Blog

The Midnight Sun is shining a bright light on what’s to come this summer in the Golden Heart City. Recently, long-standing community event centers — beloved by the “golden generation” for over six decades — have been at the heart of major discussions. Joy Community Center and Mary Siah Recreation Center both faced potential closure, as proposed by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly. Even the Carlson Center narrowly avoided the same fate. Thankfully, the summer of 2025 is still shaping up to be packed with memorable activities for residents and visitors alike.

The act of sharing music is a unique experience. Music elicits emotions, motivates fun and dancing, and connects people. To foster the sharing of music, we held two collaborations at KSUA this Spring. This included guest appearances by each other on Julia’s Cheese on Air show and Evan’s Cover to Cover show.

On March 20, DJ Manu and DJ Orange collaborated on DJ Manu's show, Absolute Vibrant Cinematics, for a special dose of chaos. In lieu of DJ Manu's usual playlist curation or album spotlight, both DJs decided to play it fast and loose. They used The Shfl, a random album generator, to determine what album they would listen to.

Viv & the Wreck has moved decisively to fill in the musical needs of the Eagle River alterna-rock audience. With the expansion of the Odd Man Rush brewery’s stage area more shows are finding the quaint JBER bedroom community to be a source of creative musical culture.

Isolation and loneliness are tropes often displayed through art, whether that be paintings or music. There are two artists that stand out in my mind when I think of isolation and loneliness portrayed through art.

In the days before internet in Goldstream Valley radio mattered and KSUA was the only source of progressive rock. It was a mismanaged commercial station with minimal oversight and the transmitter failed in 1992, but before it did Mark Beck had an “Alternative” rock show called ‘The Flip Side,’ which was popular with art kids and “wavers” (from the term “New Wave”).

We all have music and artists that are significant in terms of our musical tastes. Not necessarily one’s favorites, but the ones that most impacted how we think about and engage with music as a whole. Here’s a few of mine – they firmly and accurately out me as a middle-millennial of a nerdy disposition, but hey, what’s authenticity if not a willingness to be cringe?

As far as instrumentals go, there are a few different types. They typically fall in one of two categories, a musical replacement for white noise or music that can be enjoyed through active listening. Monster Wave's whole discography blows both categories out of the water with a beautiful ambient masterpiece that combines the easy listening of white noise and the depth and intrigue of instrumentals designed to be consumed actively.

If you like sumptuous costumes, deeply moving performances (my friend who I saw it with cried about four times,) classic toe tapping tunes, and an expertly crafted story, I highly recommend seeing Wicked, and if you can, see it on the big screen, I promise it’s worth it.

Alternative Rock with, as Flaxman describes the opening track, “dreamy, warm, shimmering, melancholic hymn / hallucination of a bright life that lies just through the next door” vibes.

This is Hulk vs Thor: Banner of War Alpha part 1. I picked up this book because the cover was gripping: Thor and Hulk are locked in an intense battle against each other. I just had to pick this up. Another enticing detail was that it was written by Donny Cates. This is the guy that wrote Absolute Carnage and Crossover, two comics that I thoroughly enjoy (but by far not the only comics he’s written)! The artist for this comic is Martin Coccolo and the colorist is Matt Wilson.

Back in February Ultimate Black Panther #1 hit the comic book shelves and I made sure to nab it. I was excited to read this because it was part of Marvel’s Ultimate Comics revamp. If you’ve listened to The Comic Panel for a while you’ll remember that we’ve covered a lot of the original Ultimate Comics such as the Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Spider-man (my personal favorite), The Ultimates, Ultimate X-men, and, most recently, Ultimate Iron Man. If you haven’t, then what you’ll need to know is that the original Ultimate Comics were an initiative launched in the early 2000’s at Marvel to modernize their characters.

When it comes to comics, Flash has had various publishers such as Dark Horse Comics, Ardden Entertainment, Dynamite, Marvel, and others. The last time Flash appeared in comics was in 2017 with the limited series Flash Gordon: Kings Cross. And now, Mad Cave Studios is taking over the reins and revamping the character with a creative team composed of writer Jeremy Adams, artist Will Conrad, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Taylor Espisito.

Hello, Jimmy here. I’m excited to announce a new release from one of the hidden gems of the 90’s, Drill for Absentee. These guys started playing when the math rock and hardcore scenes were blooming across the US. In their early days they even played shows with Blonde Redhead, Faraquet, and American Football. Read more about it here. And catch my show, Tuesdays at 8 pm.

TRIGGER WARNING: the comic has topics of suicide, depression, drugs, and underage drinking.

Saturday, May 4th was Free Comic Book Day. Free Comic Book Day is an event held annually on the first Saturday of May. It is meant to attract new readers to independent comic book stores by giving out free single issue comics.

The word “Retrovizor” means “Rear-view mirror” in Croatian. The first song on the album is called “Welcome to the Rearview” which I think is a perfect way to start off the album, since the word “Retrovizor” means “rearview mirror.”

In the heart of the Wood Centre at the Univerity of Alaska Fairbanks is the local radio station, 91.5 KSUA FM. For over four decades, KSUA radio has served as a platform for student expression, a training ground for future broadcasters, and a gathering place for Fairbanks’ media community. KSUA hit the airwaves in 1984, experimenting with a commercial radio format, however, financial difficulties forced a temporary shutdown in the early 1990s. In 1993 KSUA re-emerged as a non-profit educational station, fueled by student passion and a commitment to alternative music. Today, it harbors over 35 shows that are currently on air.

From the time I was a kid, I wanted to be a DJ. The idea of playing music and sharing it out across the airwaves was akin to magic. The first chance I got to try it, as a young teenager, my nerves were off the charts and I couldn't do anything - and we weren't even live. Fast forward to 2017 when I dusted off my old turntable and started listening to the albums I had left. I was blown away by the sound and I was hooked again, diving head-first back into the vinyl community.