Radio 1190 in the press

"BEST RADIO STATION"
KVCU-AM/RADIO 1190

"In a radio world marked by conformity, Radio 1190, a signal affiliated with the University of Colorado at Boulder, provides a refreshing blast of individuality. The DJs at the outlet, whether they're working standard shifts or specialized shows, are distinguished from their professional counterparts by a love of fresh, outside-the-mainstream sounds, and their unpolished exuberance is infectious. As a result, Radio 1190 is wonderfully old-fashioned and exceedingly contemporary at exactly the same time."
Westword, Best of Denver 2003

College Radio Fall Preview
"College radio stations pride themselves on playing songs before commercial stations pick them up. So, we asked Denise von Minden, music director at the University of Colorado's Radio 1190, for a preview of what listeners might hear this semester." (Listen) All Things Considered, Sep. 4, 2002

"BEST MUSICAL EDUCATION ON RADIO"
KVCU-AM/RADIO 1190
"KVCU-AM/1190, the student-run station at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is staffed by musical enthusiasts who breakdown barriers as a matter of course. They're eager to inform young listeners about great music of the past through the use of artist features focusing on acts that rose to prominence long before most of them were out of their Pampers. But they're just as enthusiastic to clue in older listeners about the finest underground sounds being made today via playlists that spotlight the most interesting acts in virtually every genre. The result is a benefit for music lovers of all ages." Denver Westword, Best of Denver 2001

"BEST RADIO DJ"
ALISHA (7-10am/M-F)
"The morning personality on the CU-Boulder station, Alisha, is perky without being cloying, and she goes out of her way to give listeners new information about the tunes she spins. Special features include regular interviews with the station's music director, Denise von Minden, that highlight the latest additions to the outlet's playlist, and "Artist of the Week," segments assembled in part by listeners. Through these efforts, Alisha keeps the focus right where it belongs, which is on Radio 1190's great music." Denver Westword, Best of Denver 2001

"BEST REASON TO GET HAMMERED ON FRIDAY NIGHT"
THE HANGOVER BRUNCH (10am-1pm/Saturdays)
"Ask not for whom the seltzer fizzes, kiddies: It fizzes for thee - especially when the cheerful hosts of Radio 1190's Hangover Brunch take to the late-morning airwaves on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Milkman Dan, Steph, and a rotating crew of bleary-eyed guests count down their favorite thirty musical tracks of the week while dispensing a little culinary dope: Crepe Suzzettes, Cibo Matto, Quiche Lorraine, DJ Food, and recipes for award-winning chicken and waffles. So forget the shakes, flip a few 'cakes and let the tunes shine in." Denver Westword, Best of Denver 2001

1-28-02

KVCU Radio 1190: Music for the minds, not masses
By ABIGAIL FINELLI--Colorado Daily
Often times we feel trapped by the routine of radio frequencies that dash our hopes of hearing something new and different. We're confined to redundant play-lists of pop-music -- musicians tagged, marketed, and played over and over on the local stations, so that we can predict what we will hear no matter what city we're in across the country. Boulder offers relief to the monotony of commercial radio right here. Nestled in the basement of the University Memorial Center at CU Boulder lives one of the nation's best college radio stations. What seems like a maze of vinyl records, CD's, couches and soundboards is actually the creative energy of busy students working around school schedules to bring to the airwaves an education in varied music. Read the Whole Article

12-1-01	Radio 1190: The AM Revolution by Jim Thompson--Rocky Mountain Bullhorn When was the last time you tuned your radio to the AM band? Unless you're a Rush Limbaugh listener, a religious fanatic or a sports nut, you probably can't think of any reason to switch from stereo sound to the lo-fi world of AM radio. But you do have a reason-that is, if you are looking for real music variety and willing to lend an ear to innovative, sometimes obscure, musical styles. "The AM Revolution," KVCU Radio 1190 is a three-year-old student-run station broadcast out of CU-Boulder, and it's one of only a few alternatives to the mainstream muck-shovellers owned by the likes of Clear Channel. In fact, given the station's indy-rock bent, along with its numerous shows specializing in just about everything-punk, hip-hop, reggae, folk, jazz, techno, industrial, ambient, you name it-Radio 1190 is perhaps the only station that could claim to be the alternative to the so-called alternatives. Read the Whole Article

4-15-01	KVCU wages radio revolt Rebel deejays pit eclectic cuts against "safe, staid' airwaves By John Moore Denver Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 15, 2001 BOULDER-The revolution is not being televised. It is being broadcast on a tiny radio signal from an even tinier flood-prone bunker in the back of the dank basement of the University of Colorado Memorial Center that one freedom fighter describes as "just past the Dumpsters and vampires." It is a place that time - and a recent UMC renovation - forgot. And judging from the huge bite taken out of an old Black Flag album nailed to a graffiti-stained wall, it appears that these student soldiers subsist solely on vinyl ... and takeout from Taki's. Read the Whole Article

	BEST RADIO STATION KVCU-AM/RADIO 1190 "In last year's Best of Denver issue, we named KVCU-AM, the radio voice of the University of Colorado at Boulder, "Best Non-Commercial Station." This year that qualifier deserves to be removed. Although its management and personnel continue to change, the station is the best outlet in the area for intriguing music that hasn't been beaten to death by repetition. It's a beacon of creativity in an area that's all too often an imagination-free zone." Denver Westword Best of Denver 2000

	BEST LOCAL RELEASE THE LOCAL SHAKEDOWN "Former Boulderite Jello Biafra provides a spoken-word introduction to this collection, a two-CD, 45-track crash course in the very best modern music emanating from the Front Range. Sponsored by the good people at Radio 1190 (KVCU-AM), the student-run station affiliated with the University of Colorado at Boulder, Local Shakedown highlights many of the artists played on the station's weekly broadcast of the same name. A mishmash of styles ranging from punk and pop to ambient and plain ol' rock and roll, the compilation is a solid -- and wild -- ride through the complex terrain of local sounds. A good starting point for the newcomer -- and a satisfying recording that stands on its own."*Denver Westword Best of Denver 2000*

	BEST HIP HOP SHOW BASEMENTALISM (4-7PM SATURDAYS) "DJs Adict and Resonant (aka Mike Merriman and Nate Harvey) are hip-hop heads of the most serious kind -- and that's to the benefit of anyone who tunes in to their weekly radio show on Radio 1190. In addition to spinning the most up-and-coming underground hip-hop artists from the local and national scenes, the crew hosts artists in the studio for interview and instructional sessions as well as for live performances. Adict and Resonant are students -- of the University of Colorado at Boulder and of the history of rap and hip-hop. Judging by the success of their program, they're definitely making the grade in the latter." *Denver Westword Best of Denver 2000*

6-1-00

Various Local Artists

Radio 1190 has done it again. First the fledgling KVCU exploded the airwaves with its mindblowing mix of all music wild, wonderful and non-corporate. And this rocked. And it was good. With the release of Radio 1190 Local Shakedown, a two-CD compilation of local bands weird and wonderful, the good folks at KVCU have achieved yet another rock-o-licious triumph. Minor technical quibbles notwithstanding, Radio 1190 Local Shakedown is a fabulous, if necessarily uneven, monster of a collection that everybody in Colorado should listen to. Really. Read whole article...

5-25-2000

Jello does a shot on the latest local-music compilation.

Join me now in a little creative visualization, won't you? It's the not-so-distant future, and that digital dial in your self-cleaning car is pumping in nothing but corporate radio 24-7. Megalithic corporations like Clear Channel and AM/FM have succeeded in acquiring all of the nation's FM and AM stations. Aided by Recording Industry Association of America president Hilary Rosen, Congress has passed legislation to ensure that micro-radio forever remains an illegal operation. AOL chair Steve Case and his Time Warner pals control Internet radio media, and free MP3s have been completely banished from the Web. (The good news is that the children of Everclear frontman Art Alexakis are spared the life of poverty threatened by at least five unauthorized downloads of "Heroin Girl" in 2000.) Read whole article...

11-4-99	All kinds of "Happy birthdays" and congratulations are in order to the good folks over at KVCU Radio AM 1190, the fabulous CU-based station that will enter its second year of broadcasting on November 4. (Indeed, Roberts takes care of the formalities in this week's installation of The Message, page 10.) To celebrate the event DJ Andrew Murphy, host of the station's "Local Shakedown" program every Friday from 4-6p.m., has organized a two-day concert that finds some of Denver's best sharing in the birthday festivities. The all-ages affair will be held at the Bluebird Theatre, and begins Thursday night with performances from the Kalamath Brothers, the Down N Outs, and the newly formed O'er the Ramparts, featuring members of the Blast-Off Heads and teh Boulder-based Letches. Friday night's fete features Space Team Electra, Munly, Hoochie and the Pin Downs. A heck of a show for a heck of a station. KVCU, in the immortal words of the Blues Brothers, we're so glad you made it. --Laura Bond

11-4-99	The Old College Try To say that KVCU-AM, known as Radio 1190, is in the bowels of the University Memorial Center on CU's Boulder campus is no exaggeration: it's located in the UMC basement at the tail end of a crowded labyrinth of corridors and is so near an open-air loading dock that DJs must move quickly to avoid being run over by workers making deliveries to the nearby university bookstore. It's offices are similarly lacking in luxury: Tattered posters cover up the few patches of wall that aren't lined with compact discs or well-worn albums, and much of the furniture looks as if it should be waiting on a curb for the Salvation Army. Read whole article...

11-4-99	Radio Fee Boulder: The coolest college station around could use some cash. Laura Bond, Westword A person could get worked into a state trying to find something new on the commercial radio dial in this town. After all, how many times a day does a person really need to hear the Joy Drop's "Beautiful"? (Many local programmers place the number at about thirty.) And while there may yet be regions of the world where hearing "Brass Monkey" is indeed a new rock-and-roll adventure, fans looking for new music this side of the tundra are likely to regard most local playlists as maddeningly repetative and laughably retrograde. Read whole article..

11-4-99	He loves us! He Really loves us!! What a difference a year makes. Last year, Boulder Weekly came in dead last in the newspaper category of Jann Scott's annual media awards. Same thing the year before that. This year we rocketed straight to number one. "Amazing," Scott said on his show Wednesday night, "just last year I hated them. Well, I still hate them. But they did do a cover story on me and Wayne's Word featured me, so I'm not stupid. One blow job deserves another." Read whole article.

11-4-99	KVCU celebrates 1 year: Anniversary to be marked by slate of concerts Amanda Hill, Colorado Daily KVCU, CU's student-run radio station, is celebrating it's one-year anniversary today, kicking off it's celebration with not one, but two sets of birthday shows. Jim Musil, who has been a general manager at KVCU since August 1998, said that the listenership at the station has grown tremendously in the past year to 10,000. Read whole article...

11-3-99	Radio 1190 Bash Exposing new bands to listeners is what CU's radio station, Radio 1190, does best. To celebrate their one-year anniversary, they are presenting two nights with some of the area's best bands. The first night features The Kalamath Brothers (with former members of Slim Cessna and 16 Horsepower), the Down N Outs (with former lead singer of Element 79), Sarina Simoom (with a member of the Velveteen Monsters and the Czars) and O'er the Rampart. The Second Night features atmospheric rock band Space Team Electra, the subtly-dazzling twang and intense Munly, young punkers Hoochie and The Pin Downs, a new all-girl punk band. The Radio 1190 birthday bash starts at 8pm Thursday and Friday, Nov. 4 and 5, at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver. Tickets are $5 and the shows are all ages. Call 303-735-7625 for more information.

10-13-99	Radio 1190 gearing up to celebrate one year on-air Brian Sauer, Boulder Planet Compact Discs line most walls, vinyl fills out the rest. Posters are everywhere: Some are upside down, crooked or just really old. These are remnants of the old guard, reminders that a time existed when this college radio station couldn't be heard even by the students themselves. Back then, DJs played music more or less for each other in the basement of the student union building. Read whole article...

7-21-99	Radio 1190 AM heats up the Other Side of the Dial Brian Sauer, Boulder Planet It�s time to flip the switch on your radio dial. You�re used to leaving it on FM. That�s normal. That�s where all those nice, friendly corporate stations hang out. But if you look toward the back, or maybe on the side of the stereo you�ll see a little switch that says �AM.� That�s not for your morning clock-radio alarm, that�s where the best radio station in town hangs out -- Radio 1190. Read whole article...

	BEST NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION KVCU-AM/1190 "Denver has long been without a legitimate college station, which makes the joy of hearing obscure bands on the radio that much sweeter. The programming at KVCU, aka Radio 1190, which is affiliated with CU-Boulder, is adventurous without being inaccessibl e, and there's more eclecticism at play than is common in this genre, thanks to interesting specialty shows. Radio 1190 rules."

	BEST NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO DJ Sassy Hackett KVCU-AM/1190 Sassy Hackett -- or just Sassy, as she calls herself -- was the finest DJ on Radio 1190; her combination of college-radio amateurism and nonchalant professionalism came as a welcome relief to the nonsense dished out by her competitors on the morning shift. She left the station in May to take a real radio job (in Grand Junction), and we still miss her.

5-13-99	One leftover accolade One local fave we failed to mention in our "Best of Boulder County" issue was Sassy, the morning disc jockey at Radio 1190, who is clearly the creme de la creme. From the first time we heard her promo spots saying, "You don't have to leave money on the night stand when you wake up with Sassy," we were hooked. Her voice is velvety smooth, she spins infectious grooves, and she never says ummm. Unfortunately, we won't be able to laud her talents in next year's issue. Sassy graduates from CU this week and has just accepted a job with a conglomerate of radio stations in Grand Junction. Hmm, this seems a bad deal all the way around. We lose one of the few DJs we wouldn't want to strangle with a mic cord and she has to go to the land of barren hills, cows and second-rate grapes. Hard to picture her being happy though. Sassy told her audience on Wednesday morning she wasn't sure which station she'll be assigned to. After a semester of cranking out nothing but edgy, eclectic tunes, Sassy's future seems to have boiled down to either classic rock or country. Yee haw, Sassy! You go grrrl!!

4-15-99	"Meanwhile, KVCU-AM/1190, the University of Colorado-Boulder's new radio station, is staging a "buy a watt" promotion through April 17. Yes, it's a pledge drive, but since Radio 1190, as the outlet is calling itself, is one of the few places on the dial these days that won't induce vomiting, please give generously. Call 303-492-5031 for details. "

12-30-98	New (radio) wave The University of Colorado's AM revolution by Jeremy Breningstall It started with Spiritualized's "Electricity Mainline" cutting into Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." At 7 a.m. on November 4, the University of Colorado finally hit the public airwaves, 24 years after the first funds were set aside for that purpose. Radio 1190, "the AM Revolution," can now be picked up without a cable current... Read whole article...

12-10-98	"Nugget 6: The news about radio isn't all bad, though. KVCU-AM/1190, run under the auspices of the University of Colorado-Boulder, has been accessible to the vast majority of listeners only since November 4, but it's already made its presence felt. Some of the jocks sound a little rough around the edges, but their styles are a fabulous antidote to the slickness that saturates the commercial frequencies. Moreover, the music that they're playing has been consistently intriguing and daringly eclectic. One set I heard included, in order, Hayden, Hank Williams, Portishead, Eric B. & Rakim, DJ Spooky and the Minders -- six worthy acts that deserve to be heard. "

10-29-98	"At 7 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4, people in Denver and Boulder will find another choice on their radio dials. KVCU-AM/1190 (aka Radio 1190), a new station associated with the University of Colorado-Boulder, is set to make its long-awaited debut at that time -- and early indications are strong that the outlet will be worth hearing."