Geraldine Fibbers - KXLU-FM, Los Angeles, California, September 19, 1994
The New York Times recently ran a story about the college radio station of my youth — Loyola Marymount's ever-magnificent KXLU. Now, I was not a DJ at KXLU, merely a high schooler a few miles away with my ear more often than not glued to 88.9 FM, wondering what weird and awesome sounds I'd hear next. And whenever I'm back in LA, driving around late at night, I usually try to tune in, still wondering!
"For the people who make it run, the random and sprawling appeal of having to fill hours of airtime is the draw. In an era of polish, perfection, and increasing corporate consolidation, these student stations can feature seconds or even minutes of 'dead air,'” Nathan Deuel writes. "But when it’s working, between each set of unusual and handpicked songs, an actual human being with knowledge and heart will explain why they care — and why you should too. The results can be deep, surprising, incredibly human, and wildly satisfying."
Back in the day, it was always exciting when one of the KXLU DJs would announce a live-in-the-studio set. Sometimes it would be artists who were probably much too big to be playing a college radio station; other times it would be some sweet up-and-coming band you'd never heard of. The Geraldine Fibbers would've been in the latter category for me. This 1994 performance captures the goth-country band about a year before their debut LP, Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home, came out. I saw them around that time opening for Guided By Voices at the Troubadour. A band worth revisiting/rediscovering? Judging from the high quality of this tape — oh yeah! They're deep, surprising, incredibly human, and wildly satisfying.
