Patrick Valenzuela, aka B-side, spins an indie-rock hour every week on his show “”Penguins in the Desert,”” a title borrowed from a song by Dredg, one of his favorite bands.
The engineering freshman opened Tuesday’s show on KAMP Student Radio with Radiohead, Pavement, Modest Mouse and They Might Be Giants, “”a ’90s block,”” and then played three tracks from albums released that day – Neko Case, Goldfrapp and Mogwai.
Valenzuela said Mogwai’s Mr. Beast is his favorite release of the year.
He credits KAMP with influencing most of what he listens to today. He said until he found Tool last year, he listened to music they play on KFMA and “”Total Request Live.””
“”I hate when people say there’s no good music today,”” he griped. “”You’re just not looking.””
Valenzuela thinks if KAMP were more accessible on an FM station, people would turn off commercial radio.
“”I don’t think they play what people really want to hear,”” he said.
Valenzuela said KAMP is a precious resource for him to discover new music and old music by perusing old College Music Journals and reading old CD reviews in the studio.
Valenzuela closed out the show with a tribute to his girlfriend, a song by Polysics, a band they are going to see at Club Congress on Saturday.
Listen to “”Penguins in the Desert”” every Tuesday at 11 a.m. and other KAMP shows around the clock on channel 20 in the dorms or at kamp.arizona.edu.