i can't think of one point in my life where i've called up a charity and said "hey, i like your cause, count me in". don't get me wrong, i give to numerous charities but this process always begins with being cornered by a lady - and it is always a lady - with a clipboard on a busy high street. i don't know why it's always females, perhaps men are just poor at getting unsuspecting passers-by to give them money. i guess if they bat lashes in the same way it probably wouldn't have the desired effect, and in your more homophobic regions it could even lead to a crowd at the gallows old-school style or the mass exodus of all hetero-penis from the town pursued by some flouncing anti pied piper..
i digressed. back to the point: i'm a tight fisted bastard. but this all changed this week, when i finally got off my butt and, in this time of financial uncertainty, i made the decision to get involved with Seattle-based radio station KEXP for their summer pledge drive.
i do feel a pang of guilt for giving to KEXP when 6Music is facing the axe, but my reasons are simple:
a. you can't give 6Music any money. fale.
b. i pay my licence fee so i already do, technically, give, although i also give to a whole bunch of shit i don't like and don't watch/listen to. just think about that - you're all technically giving over money so they can make The One Show
c. KEXP has to hand a fantastic back catalogue of streaming archives from their live guests, accessible at the touch of a button, and we're talking both the cutting edge and the time-weathered heroes, from Death Cab and MGMT to Bright Eyes and Los Campesinos!. it also run block parties, music festivals and is home to the single best radio show anywhere in the world: Jon Richards' Jon In The Morning, some effortless mix of the old and new alternative, who'll regularly play, on request or otherwise, stuff from Seattle's own Long Winters and Harvey Danger, plus the likes of Black Keys, Arcade Fire, Joy Formidable, Sam Amidon, Future of the Left, The National, Sufjan, Elliott Smith and the list goes on and on.
there is no other site like this, it is truly one of a kind and, in the current financial climate, i think it's about time i stepped in, albeit with a paltry donation.
with the needle currently sat at just under 50% at time of writing (about $300k short of their target), it's not too late to chip in. at the very least, spend an hour with them a week and improve/expand your music taste (yes yes, regardless of how good it is now, i know yours is great already).
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