BLASST

This episode is a little late, but that doesn't make it any less great! We've got four blocks of some of my favorite tracks from last year, including several great selections from artists in my own neck of the woods. More info at the blog.Follow us on Instagram and Twitter! We ~might~ make a TikTok?

It's a Halloween episode! 2 hours of music to make your toes tap, make your head nod, and make your skin crawl. Enjoy!https://blsst.blogspot.com

This week, I'm tired. I've been daydreaming of taking a sabbatical from everything. Everything being BLASST, social media, the U-Punk stuff - everything. I just feel overwhelmed. This is partially due to everything happening in the world, but I also just feel like I haven't taken the time to replenish my energy, both physical and emotional. Humoring the idea of not doing BLASST anymore, I wonder: is anyone out there interested in learning how to do these things? I'm more than happy to share my skills and knowledge with anyone looking to learn how to run a podcast, run a weekly live music series, etc. Send all inquiries to uupunk @ gmail.com and I'll get back to you promptly. More on the blog: https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode is compiled of stuff I've been listening to lately as well as tracks I've been meaning to play on the show for some time. We begin by talking about the recent shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wisconsin police officers, 7 shots in the back at point blank range - in front of his kids on one of their birthdays - truly monstrous. Thankfully, Blake is said to be in stable condition at a Kenosha hospital, but remains in the ICU. Meanwhile the two cops who followed him to his car, including the one who shot him, are on administrative leave. As you would expect by now, people across the country have erupted in protests calling for the termination of the aforementioned officers, as well as some less-abolitionist folks calling for charges to be brought upon them for attempted murder. If only we didn't have police to begin with! If only our communities - especially those of color - weren't so systematically disenfranchised that the idea of policing is practically inseparable from the average person's concept of a society! This and other notes at the blog: https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode is about the Postal Service! No, not the band, though we do play them at some point - because of course we do. It's not every day that the most essential branch of your country's government is being ripped to pieces, limb from limb, like a rotisserie chicken fresh out of the oven. Louis DeJoy - aka Trump's recent appointee to the position of Postmaster General, has effectively kneecapped the USPS at Trump's request. The reason: to curb mail-in voting, AKA the only safe way to vote during a global pandemic, and possibly the only way Trump can lose the 2020 presidential election. It's corruption at it's most blatant (Trump's admitted his plans in the news), and we the people are powerless to do much about it at this point, short of burning it all down I guess. If you have your torches ready, I've got the music. Let's gooo.https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode focuses on music from Lebanon, specifically (most of the time) Beirut. Last week, a massive explosion completely leveled a chunk of the city, killing hundreds and injuring thousands more, destroying buildings, and utterly devastating their community. As a gesture of solidarity and support for those hurting, I thought it would be cool to dive into music from the area.https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode features my conversation with two of the founders of Hues of Humanity, a virtual art exhibition featuring Black artists from throughout the Rio Grande Valley from a wide variety of practices: music, poetry, digital collage, illustration, and more. The exhibition caught my eye a couple of months ago when it was first announced as a brief online event. As of July 8th, the virtual exhibition is now available for the foreseeable future. To visit it, look up @hues_ofhumanity on Instagram, or check out the BLASST Blog: https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode is a throwback to June 2nd, 2017. Donald Trump had only been president for a few months, and he was already wreaking all sorts of havoc. The music selections are excellent and eclectic - as this show has always intended. Unfortunately, following the events of Hurricane Hanna, a few things needed to be tended to at home (nothing tragic, thankfully, but important nonetheless). I hope everyone out there is safe and has shelter of some kind. A lot of people, including friends, are at-risk of losing their homes if they haven't already, and some definitely have. Things are really fucked up in the Valley right now. They always are when hurricanes and big storms with a lot of wind and rain hit us from any angle. Going to post a link in the BLASST Blog to a local mutual aid effort that has been created by some friends looking to raise funds for those who have been affected by Hurricane Hanna. You can both donate funds and - if you're from the RGV - apply for funds to be disbursed to you!http://blsst.blogspot.com

The RGV is in really bad shape right now, people are dying of COVID-19 every day, our hospitals are full, and our most powerful hospital is withholding resources - and hospital space. All this paired with the firm refusal on the part of the State Government to shut down the economy again are sending my neck of the woods head-first into a pile of shit. That being said, the music on today's show is almost all from Valley artists, each track more remarkable than the next. https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode features a conversation I had with siblings Aimaloghi, Ohiozele, and Ohireime Eromosele, who are not only friends of mine but also members of the Rio Grande Valley's Black community. Aimaloghi is a UTRGV graduate (double majoring in Biology & Psychology) and community organizer who's been involved in the RGV's activism community for the past 6-7 years, Ohiozele is a Biology student at UTRGV with an eye on pursuing Public Health studies, and Ohireime is a graduate of the Howard University School of Law, where he studied patent law. The idea for this episode came after I watched an Instagram livestream that Aimaloghi did a week or so after the murder of George Floyd, where she spoke openly and critically about the Rio Grande Valley's activist response. In her stream, she explained how the Valley lacked the proper framework to build meaningful anti-racist direct action capacity and offered some critiques as well as different ways that activism can take shape when focused and properly organized. I resonated pretty deeply with all of this, considering the time I've spent around activists, as well as the fact that I also have had questions regarding how to move forward as a community that wishes to work toward an anti-racist future. Considering that at this very critical time, the focus of the movement throughout the country is to support and uplift Black lives and Black voices, it makes sense to me that I also look to Black voices in my own community for leadership in this kind of work. I'd already spent a few episodes speculating about this throughout the month of June, so when I saw Aima's stream, I thought it would make a great jumping point for a conversation on the show, where we could dive deeper into what we can do as a community to move forward. When I asked Aima to be on the program, she asked if she could have her brothers Ohiozele and Ohireime join her, which I thought was a great idea. As a result, the discussion was able to grow beyond simply talking about the wave of anti-racist uprising around the country and local activism, but also about the experiences Aima and her brothers have had growing up as Black people in the Rio Grande Valley. Overall, the conversation had a very warm energy and provided everyone with open space to share, reflect, and of course, enjoy some excellent music selections. I hope you enjoy it!https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode features a conversation with Charlie Vela and Jonathan Leal, the creators of Futuro Conjunto, an ambitious trans-media experience that is equal parts speculative fiction and RGV music scene time capsule - for three different generations at once, over the span of 300 years. I realize that might be a lot to comprehend at the moment, but if you'll grant me your time for about *checks watch* two hours, today's conversation breaks the whole thing down pretty well. Whether you're a longtime RGV music scene veteran or a sci-fi fanatic looking for a new geo-political narrative to expand your mind with, Futuro Conjunto has something for everybody. More at the BLASST Blog.https://blsst.blogspot.com

It's like the title says. Your vote holds significantly more weight in local elections where an electoral college is not present. Vote with your conscience all you want, just look up your ballots beforehand so you know what you're doing. That being said, today's tracklist is full of incredible music. It's a wild ride from start to finish, and that's just the waveforms. Best listened to while riding in a subway car, or getting some work done in a big empty space. Blog will be up in the afternoon: https://blsst.blogspot.com

All three of the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor in March (103 days ago now) remain at large. None of them have been arrested, charged with a single thing, or held accountable in any way for their killing of an innocent woman - and subsequent lying about the incident in their reports. Abolition in mind, justice must still be served. On another note, the music on the show today is especially fantastic, and international!https://blsst.blogspot.com

The police should be abolished, but if that can't happen today, at least, their budgets can get chopped in half. Okay fine, quarters. Also today's jams are fire as hell. I was up late putting this one together so the blasst blog won't be up til the afternoon. Keep an eye on our Instagram for the post! Or check back around 5pm.https://blsst.blogspot.com

Let's talk.https://blsst.blogspot.com

Not speaking today. Not because of the apparent music industry "blackout" that's happening today, which...I don't even know what that means, honestly. No - my decision not to speak today is in response to the reaction that people in the Rio Grande Valley had to the recent solidarity protest in Edinburg on Saturday. Their reaction was full of anti-blackness, and was a stark reminder that no matter how 'progressed' the Valley thinks it is, it still has a lot of work to do in unlearning its own internalized racism. So, for today's episode, I've put together a playlist of some pretty incredible Black artists whose work I admire very much and I eagerly wish to expose you to (if you haven't heard of them already). More, as always, on the BLASST Blog: https://blsst.blogspot.comBLACK LIVES MATTER. NOW AND FOREVER. JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD.

Contrary to what was said by a now-infamous partier at South Padre Island, the coronavirus does - in fact - exist, and it continues to wreak havoc on the United States, though not entirely in the way you might assume. First, we had the pandemic to worry about, and now, we have its agents of destruction - ignorant, entitled Americans desperate to cling to their pre-COVID sense of the world - coughing and spitting on people out of spite, many of which work for the businesses said Americans fought so desperately to reopen, and further spreading the virus to those present. This is happening all over the country. Yes, even in the Rio Grande Valley...and other favorites.More at the BLASST Blog: https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's COVID CALLS wraps up our mini-series for the time being, and features conversations with two students and one public school employee. More updates at the BLASST Blog at noon - https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today on COVID CALLS, we return to the world of Education in the Rio Grande Valley, and we talk to two guests: a music teacher from Harlingen who plays in a ska band, and...my dad? Yep. My dad is an administrator at Weslaco ISD and was able to share some information about how his district has been handling the recent changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm actually really excited that he's on the show.More details on the BLASST Blog: https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's episode of COVID CALLS focuses on the realm of Education in the RGV. We speak with three callers: a college student followed by two English instructors. One of whom you may already be familiar with. BLASST Blog will be up at noon: https://blsst.blogspot.com

This is our second entry in the COVID CALLS series, and our first to feature primarily healthcare workers' stories. All work (including music) produced by Andres Sanchez.More info and updates on today's stories can be found at the BLASST Blog: http://blsst.blogspot.com

Introducing BLASST's first mini-series, COVID CALLS, where we center the narratives of people from the Rio Grande Valley and highlight all of the different ways we as a region have persevered in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each caller also gets to select a track to play on the show, which is perhaps our favorite part of the whole thing. This is our first episode in the series, and doubles as episode 108.More notes on the BLASST Blog: https:/blsst.blogspot.com

Well, I imagine a lot of people are pretty upset with Bernie Sanders now. He's gone ahead and played along with the game of politics the way he did in 2016 when he endorsed Hillary Clinton after being denied the Democratic nomination by the DNC - that time. You could argue that it's a long-game move, he's still a state senator after all, and if he wants to expect any kind of cooperation on the legislative floor, he has to play ball in some way. It doesn't make it any less disappointing to see though. The 'movement' he built over the last 5 years has lit a fire under people's butts. Hot enough to get them into the streets? Perhaps not, especially considering our need to stay home to curb community spread of COVID-19. Even the cops are involved now. Anyway, the world is moving forward whether we like it or not, and we may as well make the best of it while we can. Today's selection is eclectic and stimulating, not at all like this tea I made in a hurry to warm up my voice. Enjoy.https://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's BLASST features our second guest of 2020: Angel Corsi! Angel is a singer-songwriter from Harlingen, TX with a strong community-oriented MO. He's owned venues, music shops, organized municipal live music events across the Valley, and most notably to me, he also regularly teaches classes on how to write music and be a better songwriter and performer - even from a business sense. His contributions to the RGV music scene have brought him to my attention over the past couple of years, and with the release of his latest EP, In The Quiet Hours, I wanted to bring him on the show to talk about all of it! I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite conversations I've ever had on the program, and I hope you enjoy it too. More at the blog: http://blsst.blogspot.com

What will the future look like? What will the world look like after COVID-19? When will 'after' arrive? We don't know. We'd have a better idea if people actually stayed home and washed their hands, helping mitigate the spread of the deadly respiratory illness. In the meantime, I've got some tunes to tide you over while you self-quarantine!More on the BLASST Blog: http://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's broadcast features BLASST's first guest of 2020, the avant-pop upstart from San Benito, TX, Pillowsnake!We talk about videogames, producing music on a smartphone, and everything that makes the Pillowsnake world go 'round. More at the BLASST Blog!http://blsst.blogspot.com

STAY HOME. STOP GOING OUT TO CROWDED PLACES. THAT'S HONESTLY THE WORST FLEX YOU COULD HAVE ON A PERSON - "THAT VIRUS WON'T GET ME" AKA "I HAVE NO REGARD FOR MY OWN WELL-BEING, LET ALONE THAT OF MY FELLOW MAN - and other favorites. RIP Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. http://blsst.blogspot.com

And stop sneezing into open air! Keep your germs to yourself! The Covid-19 panic is bad enough, we don't need people actually getting sick in the midst of it! - and other favorites.http://blsst.blogspot.com

It's been a minute ! If you live in the United States, Super Tuesday - AKA the last day you can vote in the Presidential Primaries - is tomorrow! GO VOTE! VOTE WITH OTHERS IN MIND. VOTE WITH THE FUTURE IN MIND. VOTE LASTLY, WITH YOURSELF IN MIND - and other favorites.

Today's episode is a mix of everything we offer, blistering listens, strange sounds, and thank you's. Many, many thank you's. Thank you for listening.http://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's BLASST features our final Space-themed episode, Space IV: Strange Sounds From The Past, For The Future. Within you will find a collection of music from across the past 50 years that has pushed boundaries forward (both within music as well as ourselves). Some of today's selections might be considered mature or NSFW, so I would like to state that listener discretion is advised.http://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's playlist is pretty eclectic and great for filling in the backgrounds of your work spaces and dinner tables, but considering that Fourth of July is also happening this week, I ask that you think long and hard about what exactly the United States of America represents. The fourth of July is supposed to be our Independence Day, but how have we put our independence to use? If you have even the slightest notion of what's happening in the world today, you'll know that the US government has been detaining thousands upon thousands of immigrant families fleeing violence and seeking asylum in our country, and forcing them to live in cages without proper access to sanitation, food, and water. When do these people get to claim their own independence from the United States' evil clutches? When will they be free? If you want to play around with roman candles, don't point them at your friends, point them at Border Patrol, point them at ICE agents, point them at this fucking system.

Today's episode features my conversation with the endlessly talented Harriet Brown, a funky soul from Los Angeles, California. On this episode, Harriet and I discuss his musical journey, from the ups and downs of living in a place as big and bustling as LA, to discovering Prince in college..and we actually spend a fair amount of time talking about Prince and all his eccentricities near the end. It's a solid episode, my friends. Be sure to catch Harriet Brown when he comes through the Valley July 3rd at the Tropicana Lounge in Edinburg!Tune in!: http://blsst.blogspot.com

Fresh tunes from all over on this one.http://blsst.blogspot.com

On my recent trip to New York City, I made a point of visiting as many record stores as possible. I've been to the city twice before and on neither trip did I find the time to visit a record store. Granted, I had other stuff to do—the city is pretty big after all—and with my pick of things to do to pass the time, I found myself quite busy without spending all of my hard-earned on a handful of cherished records.This time around, I swore things would be different.http://blsst.blogspot.com

Roky Erickson passed away last Friday. The impact his music and his spirit have had on the world of music and art is absolutely immeasurable. A singular figure in the world of Psychedelic Rock music and a symbol of how one can absolutely overcome the worst possible odds of all time and end up on top. It feels so surreal to think of how he's gone, but in these situations, where people we care about die, I think it's best to spend time thinking about them and helping cement the memory you wish to remember most about them for the foreseeable future. For me, that memory is seeing Roky walking around downtown Austin with a tote bag on his shoulder at one of my first South by Southwests. At the time, I had a negative association of men wearing bags like that, but seeing Roky wear one meant it was okay, and that I was mistaken. From that day forward, a tote bag has been my bag of choice when going out and about. It's proven itself to be an incredibly utilitarian and valuable decision in my life, and it's all thanks to Roky Erickson. http://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's BLASST is a little late. Gimme a break, I'm out and about in the world! I'm actually just in New York City again, (see BLASST #23 for my first visit), but while it may be one city, it's filled with people, food, and languages from all over the world. An "American" city in that it is a prime example of how immigrants have managed to forge lives for themselves despite oppressive living conditions, ever-ascending rent rates, and a constantly changing world surrounding them. Even the homeless people make up a key component of what this city represents: possibility. I know that sounds silly, but the way I see it, even folks who don't have a roof over their heads and walk around reeking of their own urine refuse to leave, so that has to say something about what this place means to the people that live in it. I've only been here a few days and still have another few to go, but already I'm getting both exhausted (you have to walk everywhere, who thought that up?) and comfortable in my surroundings. I can even picture myself giving the city a shot one day. When will that day come? Who knows. But I think now more than ever I have to recognize that as inevitable.http://blsst.blogspot.com

On today's BLASST I get to sit down and chop it up with arguably the most popular trouble-makers in the RGV music scene, the gender-inclusive pain in the violently conservative state of Texas' proverbial "ass", and the Rio Grande Valley's premier ska group: L@s Skagaler@s. We talk about the band's loooong story, the attack on choice in this country (as well as at home), and the band's upcoming performance at this weekend's Skank for Choice event, a pro-choice benefit show that will raise funds for non-profit organizations that help provide abortion access to those who choose who need it. Case in point: Alabama, where due to the passing of "Human Life Protection" Act (100% inaccurate name btw), even being remotely connected to an abortion can result in a criminal charge. We also jam some new tracks from the Tales from the Border EP, which some of the Skags helped create specifically for the benefit this weekend.More at the BLASST Blog.InstagramTwitter

KBYL (Know Before You Listen): Today's conversation contains a description of sexual assault from 18:08-19:50. Feel free to skip past it if it may make you uncomfortable.Today's episode brings us a conversation with two-thirds of Brownsville's leading post-punk group, The Objects. We talk about their upcoming album and release show while learning a little more about the band than we planned for. Special guest appearance by Brandi Castañeda.http://blsst.blogspot.com

Today's BLASST features our conversation with the Rio Grande Valley's increasingly versatile singer-songwriter, Jesika Espiricueta! Among the subjects we discuss are her journey into music, her experiences opening for Helado Negro and Mitski on their 2017 Texas Tour, her growing vintage clothing business, Trash Brat, as well as her upcoming show with Helado Negro at Cine El Rey in McAllen on 5/16!Jesika has been a friend of mine for some time as well as a listener of BLASST since the very beginning, so it's an immense pleasure to be able to have her on the show today! Check it out!http://blsst.blogspot.com

Can you say #crossover? In honor of Avengers: Endgame's recent release in our current timeline, this episode brings BLASST's 80s to a close, and what better way to do so than with a visit by the RGV's newest up-and-coming podcasters, The Exterior Process! Check the BLASST Blog for more info: http://blsst.blogspot.com

This past Sunday, the island nation of Sri Lanka experienced several bombings that took over 300 lives and injured as much as 500 during Easter celebrations. The attacks are suspected to be religiously motivated. It's a true tragedy and weighs so heavy on my heart. So, I decided to make an episode of exclusively Sri Lankan artists out of solidarity with the nation, and to showcase the diversity of their music community. We've got everything from abstract electronics and folk to power electronics. It's kind of wild. You should take a listen now-ish.http://blsst.blogspot.com

This episode dives deep into my old hard drives for music I listened to from 2002-2008, a period of time before I knew what Facebook was, before the Internet became something to escape from, and was itself the escape from the rest of the world. I learned about a lot of different music (among other things) at this time, and truly changed as a person. I credit today's theme to Wrong Box, a computer game created by Molly Soda and Aquma, which plays heavily with 2000s internet nostalgia in a way that deeply impacted me. So much so that it made me think back to that time, when things were simpler—or perhaps, complicated in a way I was not aware of yet. It was a period of time where ignorance was the price for bliss by way of exposure to new information. Not knowing something meant you still had the opportunity to know it, at some point, and that possibility meant a lot to me. It filled me with wonder. I felt that same wonder (and possibly fear, let's be real) while playing Wrong Box. I think the fear may have been associated with the quiet and abstract nature of the game, which reminded me of those early jump-scare websites that led you down simple puzzles to a brief flash of something terrifying paired with a shrieking sound cue or something like that. But that never happened, and I completed the game despite my fears because I wanted to see where it went, my curiosity was piqued, and at the end, my ignorance was rewarded with bliss. A rush of feelings, things I hadn't felt in a long time. Play the game if you can, and be sure to pay for it. - A

Today's episode pays great respects to the mobile app and website Radioooo, a service in which you can listen to music from all over the world and at nearly every point in time in which recorded music has existed!More notes on the BLASST Blog: http:/blsst.blogspot.com

Contrary to the April Fool's prank I played on listeners, BLASST will not be ending on April Fool's Day. It will, however, be coming to a close come BLASST 100 in a few months. I've taken on some new work with Neta RGV to provide music scene coverage for the next few months (and hopefully into the future), and I would like to devote as much time as possible outside of my day job to that work. This show means the world to me, and I am sad to put it to an end eventually, but all things end, and only once they are gone do we get to truly appreciate everything they were when they were around. I hope you enjoy this broadcast, and stick around for the next 14. Cheers. More info in the BLASST Blog.http:/blsst.blogspot.com

Aside from watching live music, I spent this past weekend with friends talking about ghosts, spirits of the undead that walk the earth either of their own volition or by some other order, having a brief moment where I thought I had encountered a ghost, and finally, listening to the music of Scott Walker. Then today I learned he died. Check the BLASST Blog for the full story.blog: http://blsst.blogspot.com

Ok, I decided I'm not going to continue spelling out the episode numbers because that's some cornball-ass shit. I don't care what Apple decides to do to my episodes, it's just not worth it. Anyway, we go back into space on this broadcast, and I get to play all the stuff I wanted to play last week, but couldn't. Everyone from Alice Coltrane to Suzanne Ciani is in this supernova. Dig in!E-mail: uupunk@gmail.comBlog: http://blsst.blogspot.comInsta: @u_punkTwitter: @universal_punk

Focused on music that utilizes "space" in all it's forms today.BLOG: http://blsst.blogspot.comINSTA: @u_punkTWITTER: @universal_punkE-MAIL: uupunk@gmail.com

Don't mind the title, Apple is threatening to take down podcasts that have numbers in their episode titles. RATE AND REVIEW US. ANYWAY.This was one of the more fun episodes I've done lately, on a personal level. More words next week along with more music. Thanks for tuning in this week. Please go to the DREAMS festival. The lineup is absolutely solid (as usual with Tigersblood.org events) and it also may be one of the last times I play music in a live setting with SUPER for some time. We still have a lot of merch, so if you feel like picking some of it up, I'll have it on hand. RIP Keith FlintE-Mail: uupunk@gmail.comBLOG: http://blsst.blogspot.comMIXCLOUD: http://mixcloud.com/blasstINSTA: @u_punkTWITTER: @universal_punk

This was a good show, hiccups aside. For example, I mistakenly claim Laughing Stock, the final Talk Talk album, is not the album that follows Spirit of Eden, when it does in actuality. C'est la vie. I'm glad to have played a little tribute to Mark Hollis of Talk Talk for the first half of the show just the same. I never delved beyond Spirit of Eden until hearing of his passing, so today's news really sent me down a rabbit hole of his music, to see the narrative of the band and himself as an artist over time. I like doing that, seeing the full picture, from beginning to end. This can be harder to do when you don't know what the end is yet. Life can be that way sometimes.BLASST Blog: http://blsst.blogspot.comINSTA: @u_punkTWITTER: @universal_punkE-Mail: uupunk@gmail.com

Today's episode is an experimental one, in that I have a new ~podcasting~ setup...set up. Where I used to sort of lay out the show ahead of time and give myself finite space to speak in the beginning, middle, and end...and end up getting cut off when I'm on a roll by the next song, now I'm running the music bed and tracks I'm playing from different sources, and picking them live as I go along, giving me all the time to yap on as long as I need to. You're welcome. Also, the new Cosey Fanni Tutti is 100% mind-blowing. Ferrerito Rocherito over and out.BLASST BLOG: http://blsst.blogspot.comINSTA: @u_punkTWITTER: @universal_punkE-MAIL: uupunk@gmail.comARCHIVE: http://mixcloud.com/blasst