I’ve long been a fan of Ken Layne’s “Desert Oracle” through its lovingly-assembled, pocket-sized zine (since 2015), and the podcast (since 2017), but only recently got to experience it in its Platonic-ideal form: as an actual radio broadcast beamed through the darkness of the Mojave desert.
A few weeks ago I was in Yucca Valley on a short “personal writing retreat” that now seems uh, ironic, and realized on a Friday evening that the live radio show would shortly air on KCDZ 107.7 FM out of Joshua Tree. I tuned in just in time for the howl of the coyote that opens each episode and then Layne’s distinctive dry narration layered over twangy guitars. It’s perfect for a desolate late night, for our current retreat from the cities into the sparsity of the interior, no matter how far away from jackrabbits and tumbleweeds you may be. I highly recommend tuning in *tonight*, and every Friday, at 10pm PST / 1am EST (yes, you can listen through an app like Simple Radio).
PS: if a half an hour of Desert Oracle tonight isn’t enough, continue the windswept sagebrush vibes by queuing up NTS's backlog of Country Hayride, a radio show of classic echo-y country and western songs.
PPS: enjoy this gentle desert creature, serenely munching greenery in a ray of sunlight.
A few weeks ago I was in Yucca Valley on a short “personal writing retreat” that now seems uh, ironic, and realized on a Friday evening that the live radio show would shortly air on KCDZ 107.7 FM out of Joshua Tree. I tuned in just in time for the howl of the coyote that opens each episode and then Layne’s distinctive dry narration layered over twangy guitars. It’s perfect for a desolate late night, for our current retreat from the cities into the sparsity of the interior, no matter how far away from jackrabbits and tumbleweeds you may be. I highly recommend tuning in *tonight*, and every Friday, at 10pm PST / 1am EST (yes, you can listen through an app like Simple Radio).
PS: if a half an hour of Desert Oracle tonight isn’t enough, continue the windswept sagebrush vibes by queuing up NTS's backlog of Country Hayride, a radio show of classic echo-y country and western songs.
PPS: enjoy this gentle desert creature, serenely munching greenery in a ray of sunlight.
I recently did the same thing. Tired of the frozen Great Basin Desert I decided to travel the 500 miles to the much lower and warmer elevations of the Mojave. I made it a point to be in Amboy, California on Route 66 for the sole purpose of tuning in live to Desert Oracle Radio.
ReplyDeleteBy 10 p.m. Friday Amboy was quiet, and I turned on the portable radio and heard that same coyote howling through the airwaves from the transmitter on Copper Mountain, through Sheep Hole Pass, across Bristol Dry Lake and right into tiny Amboy.
The only sound for the next hour was an occasional passing car and the radio. It was perfect and I will do it again.