boston progress radio

It is a lazy Saturday afternoon and I’ve done all my weekend chores. I noticed that I’ve got a stack of CDs sitting on my desk here waiting to be put up on the radio. Yeah, I’ve been slacking with the play list updates. Part of it is because I’m not sure how many unique individuals are out there actually listening. Nobody writes me to tell me what they like, what they don’t like and what they’d like to hear more of. Of course, not everyone has the desire to listen to online radio. And sometimes, it isn’t that convenient. And then there is iTunes giving you easy access to music that you can buy and listen to over and over and over.

Whether or not there are many listeners doesn’t really matter. I hope that maybe someone out there will listen to our radio station and be introduced to music from somebody they don’t know. Somebody who isn’t played on the Top 40 stations in your local town. Somebody who doesn’t have a video on VH1 or MTV. But somebody who makes good, honest, from-the-heart music that will move you in ways you never thought you could be moved.

Here are this week’s update to the BPR play list. Listen in and let us know what you think.

Alfa Garcia recently released a new EP entitled Growth. We’ve been playing her track “The Lament” off of the Compilasians album, so she is not really new to the station. But I don’t think we said much about her at that time. According to Feliza Merisol, “Born and raised in a family of classical musicians, Alfa Garcia is anything but traditional. A trained classical musician, Alfa’s talent is well served in the singer/songwriter genre, where her rich, soulful voice and lyrical insight bespeak a maturity far beyond her tender years… Beautiful and graceful, yet with an earthy bent, Alfa’s music touches lingeringly and lightly, but with deeper, thoughtful intent.”

While browsing myspace, I found David S. H. Wong. He is a folk musician whose voice sounds a lot like Bob Dylan’s. Each of the songs from July With Fireworks are thoughtful and seem to tell us a little story. I really appreciate David taking time out of his busy schedule to send us his CD. I’m really digging his breathy, yet somewhat restrained voice.

The day I got Imelda de la Cruz’s album in the mail, I played it over and over 3 or 4 times. Her voice is amazingly pure. I hear Sarah McLachlan or maybe a little Jewel in her music. I’m really liking her sound. The music seems to evoke some self-reflection. The CD is well-produced. Just overall, a nice disc.

The Ricecookers are a rock band from Boston whose CD is available at the East Meets West Bookstore for purchase. I don’t know too much about them, but I will say three things: a) At least one of the band members is Japanese since they have a song which is written in Japanese, b) they sound like they have plenty of energy, which I think is a requirement of a good rock band, and c) they appear to have some concern for the environment since they implore everyone to watch “An Inconvenient Truth.” I wonder if they cook their rice with solar power.

Rising Asterisk is a Filipino hip hop group from the Bay. The subject of their pieces don’t clearly deal with Asian American issues, but I would say that they are political. And what they say is a little more subtle than I’m used to. Does that make their music cerebral hip hop? What is clear is that they spit from the heart and the loops are pretty catchy.

The final artist we will introduce on BPR this week is Slanty Eyed Mama. I met Kate Rigg from Slanty Eyed Mama at the APIA Summit in New York City. She’s outspoken, opinionated, and loud. I like that. Her songs are basically covers of well-known popular songs such as Ice, Ice Baby and I Will Survive. However, they’ve changed the lyrics. Slanty Eyed Mama sets out to challenge Asian American stereotypes, particularly those that pertain to our Asian American sisters. In addition to making music, they do a whole lot of other cool activism stuff. You should check out the website for biographical information.

In addition to adding music from these artists, I’ve also tweaked the play list. Hope you like listening.

Last 5 posts by eugene

• Yet another post on the supratarsal fold - May 12th, 2008
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• As I Am: Asians In America Goes National - May 4th, 2008
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Tags: News, Online Radio.