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It is an amalgam in the finest sense of the word, a musical alloy, a glorious meshing of thought and music across all genres and spectra. It is your friendly university radio station.
A year ago I was like most of you, at least in the sense that I did not know much about WUSC, USC's own radio station. Officially, it is dedicated to nonprofit, noncommercial broadcasts, and as such it cannot play any music that has made the Top 40 charts in the past 40 years. It just might be the best music you have never heard.
Granted, I may come off as a biased judge since I went through DJ training in the spring and am now on my second semester as one of the many radio personalities of WUSC, but the emphasis really is on personality.
The music aired on WUSC is as varied as the people who host its programs; from African funk to Bluegrass, you can hear potentially anything and everything, often within the span of a few minutes. Of course the question could then arise: Why not add Top 40 music to the music mix? Why not play things with which people are comfortable and familiar?
"If people are buying enough CDs to make [the artist] Top 40, they don't need us; they don't need a nonprofit to boost them," said Alejandro Florez, a third-year finance and marketing student and Assistant Public Affairs Director for WUSC. "It's not that we're snotty. It's just that there are a lot of other things to play. We're not 'too cool,' we just spread the wealth."
And for any potential DJs out there, it does feel good to contribute to the rise of a great artist. Franz Ferdinand, MGMT, Modest Mouse, Animal Collective, Cut Copy and M.I.A. are just a few of the bands whose CDs aired on WUSC's airwaves years before anyone else played them.
While variety may be the proverbial "spice of life" and exploring new and different genres of music may be a satisfying experience, there are also those who know what they like and, more importantly, want to help others hear it as well.
The WUSC specialty shows have a special place on the program roster. These programs focus not on breadth of music but on depth. Their DJs are experts on a certain kind of music and find the best for their listeners.
One such DJ is Cait Costello, a second-year public relations student who is also Assistant Public Affairs Director for the station, who hosts "Ska is for Suckers" on Wednesday nights from 10 p.m. to midnight.
"We're a great station, but sometimes we play some weird stuff. It's good for people to find a sound they like and listen to it every week." Costello said.
Personally, I say the thrill of the radio station is the thrill of discovery, both of music and of people, for the radio station has many interesting samples of both. DJs come and go, but though we are only a transitive community, the station remains. WUSC is an education in music for listeners and DJs alike. In the meantime, keep us in mind, and if you ever need us, we're always on the air. 90.5 FM, WUSC-FM and HD-1 Columbia.
WUSC'S TOP 30 ALBUMS 1 FLEET FOXES Fleet Foxes SUB POP 2 BRAZILIAN GIRLS New York City Verve Forecast 3 CALEXICO Carried To Dust Touch And Go/Quarterstick 4 WOLF PARADE At Mount Zoomer SUB POP 5 WALKMEN You And Me Gigantic 6 STILLS Oceans Will Rise Arts And Crafts 7 UH HUH HER Common Reaction Nettwerk 8 DAEDELUS Love To Make Music To Ninja Tune 9 AVETT BROTHERS The Second Gleam Ramseur 10 KING KHAN AND THE SHRINES The Supreme Genius Of King Khan And The Shrines Vice 11 COMPUTER VS. BANJO Computer Vs. Banjo Self-Released 12 THE FAINT Fascinatiion Blank.wav 13 FIREWATER The Golden Hour Bloodshot 14 MARCHING BAND Spark Large U&L 15 DRAGONFORCE Ultra Beatdown Roadrunner 16 THE FRATELLIS Here We Stand Interscope 17 INDIGENOUS Broken Lands Vanguard 18 MILES BENJAMIN ANTHONY ROBINSON Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson Say Hey 19 LAURA MARLING Alas I Cannot Swim Astralwerks 20 THE COAST Expatriate Aporia 21 SILVER JEWS Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea Drag City 22 BLACK KIDS Partie Traumatic Almost Gold-Columbia 23 HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR Hercules And Love Affair Mute-DFA 24 THESE ARE POWERS Taro Tarot Hoss 25 TAKKA TAKKA Migration Ernest Jenning 26 DR. DOG Fate Park The Van 27 OPPENHEIMER Take The Whole Midrange And Boost It Bar/None 28 DRESDEN DOLLS No, Virginia Roadrunner 29 HUMAN HIGHWAY Moody Motorcycle Suicide Squeeze 30 MUSIC TAPES For Clouds And Tornadoes Merge
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