There were a lot of things I appreciated about being at my particular college radio station back in the day. These things primarily revolved around the camaraderie and togetherness of the students at the station. In general, we viewed ourselves as apart from the rest of the campus population, in part because the responsibility of keeping this fully licensed FM station is proper working order, beholden to a tangle of a federal regulations that explicitly bound us to the community that existed beyond the borders of our campus. What’s more, when our classmates were plotting out spring break excursions to points south, most of us were deep into the planning necessitated by presiding over one of the biggest community events of the year.

There was also the simple characteristic of outsiderness that we had in common with our college radio brethren across the country: the music we listened to was drastically different. When Siouxsie and the Banshees was topping the college charts, a very different song was on top of the Billboard singles chart and the latter was far better represented in the dorms. Since music was already such a strong part of our psyches–our love of it often was what drove us to the station in the first place–we bonded strongly over it, holding up our paper playlists as evidence that we were a little cooler than those who never crossed the threshold of our studio door.

Mostly, though, we simply took great pleasure in sharing our discoveries with the like-minded souls in the station. There was a lot to do, and a lot of music pouring in. It was difficult to keep up with it all, especially since this was the era before a few clicked hyperlinks could get you all the information you could possibly need about each new album. We scoured Spin and Musician for ideas of what to play, and made mental notes while watching 120 Minutes. The best direction, however, came from one another.

When Strange Free World was released by Kitchens of Distinction, it made no impression on me. I was probably all wrapped up in the other releases that came out at about the same time. Eventually, someone introduced it to me, said “really listen to this song,” put it on at a party at just the right time for its swarming sounds to feel exactly right. I’m not even sure how I learned about it, but I know it wasn’t my own discovery and I know it wasn’t from a magazine or some other distant source. It was because we were all listening, all hunting, all wanting more than anything else to find that next great record. And when we found it, we wanted it to be shared. We were broadcasting to all of central Wisconsin, but we were mostly engaged in an ongoing dialogue with each other. And songs and records were the lines we spoke.

Kitchens of Distinction, “Hypnogogic”

(Disclaimer: Strange Free World appears to be out of print. There is a fairly pricey “best of” collection available that contains some of the strongest songs from Strange including the college radio hits “Drive That Fast” and “Quick as Rainbows.” However, “Hypnogogic” is not on it, as far as I can tell, so it is unavailable through any means that contributes to the bank accounts of the band members. It is with that understanding that I post the song here. If anyone with due authority do so asks me to remove it, I will gladly comply.)