KUT Radio 90.5 FM

Please retire already John Ailey. Your time has past. If your coworkers won’t tell you I will. You sound like a crazy rambling old man that often times gets your info wrong. I don’t mind the music you play, but it’s when you come back on the air, I find myself asking «why am I listening to this???». Someone also might want to mention how rude it is when you interrupt the guests that you are interviewing. The public does not care what side story you have especially with the person is in the middle of a sentence. I am soooo happy you’re not on Fridays, I count the days until I don’t have to suffer through you to get to the good of the KUT station. Stay home and force your neighbors to suffer through your ramblings because the public has tired of it.

Falling asleep– doing renovations on my house. TV on the radio played almost times before 5 PM! Get a clue

I like to think that KUTX exists now purely because of this review. Thank you, public radio. I love you.

Concerning the recent changes to KUT and the demise of a GREAT RADIO station.
To all those who like the change and who wrote nasty things about John Aielli, Congratulation on bringing the station to a standard of mediocrity found on every other station in town and most other towns.
Why management chose to reduce John Aielli’s program and kick off Ed Miller, Michael Crocket and the other world music Djs is beyond me. But obviously the rating #s highly enfluenced their decision.
Silly me, I thought PUBLIC RADIO was all about quality and information, not just pandering to the popular governing taste. That’s what all the other stations do!!!
Hello, we now have another KGSR clone…
But obviously, we must pander to the lowest denominator and follow the crowd of music lemmings. Popular rock and Popular junk — here is one more station for your followers.
I hope the Lemmings at least put your money where your mouth is and DONATE to your new pubic radio station.
As a long time donor, I will greatly reduce my sustainable donation to not much– in reflection of what KUT mass media radio station has now become.

I hardly listen to KUT, now, since it got rid of its music programming in the AM. Really odd move, as I see it, for this station based in «The Live Music Capital Of The World.»

Wow, all the people on here that don’t enjoy music… move! You live in the live music capital of the world. Obviously KUT is going to play more music than other NPR stations… what a dumb complaint. And you’re sick of the fund drives? Then why don’t we get the government to pay them more money? Why is it such a hassle to have fund drives? It’s like tipping them for all their hard work they do. They have AWESOME shows that most other NPR stations don’t like O’ Dark 30 why not stop whining and enjoy the good parts of KUT which is pretty much all of it. THEY ARE AWESOME. If you don’t like it then listen to something else, but considering they are always in the top 4 stations in Austin each month so they must be doing something right. Props to Mendenhall and what he’s done to the station.

Yessssssss

Sometimes this station is entertaining, (pretty much only when NPR comes on.) But honestly I can not stand John Aielli. He is such a moron! Shut up man seriously!!! I have been naïve about my radio listening, and have suffered through his morning show for a long time now. Today after talking on and on about how barton springs used to be more pleasant (and then interrupting a song to continue spouting off about it!) I had enough. This guy is the worst case of irony in media. He has been at it for 60 some odd years, but acts like the most ametuer of college DJ’s.
He really is like that god awful neighbor who holds you hostage for hours with his non-​sensical ramblings.
Please, refresh this station and get him off the air!

The new all news format is great. Seriously everything I posted before about a certain someone ramling all morning no longer applies. I’d love to hear Diane Rehm but that would cut out the last hour of Morning edition which could be a pain for other people so I’ll just deal with it.

I’ve been listening to KUT for about as long as I’ve been in Austin (and I got here in 1969). I’ve been a faithful listener all those years.
With the advent of all talk all the time on 90.5 and having to move to another station for music, and, worse, the QUALITY of those talk shows (abysmal for the most part — who does these things?), I rarely turn it on even in the car any longer.
The rhythm used to be quite good. Talk shows that made you think, then music for a period of time that allowed you to ponder what you’d heard on the talk portion. Now, there’s no time to THINK about what you’ve heard before someone else is yammering at you about yet another Really Important Topic (hint: most of them aren’t and even if they are the «coverage» is about the same quality as Rush Limbaugh — yeah, I said it). Are we no longer supposed to want to, or be able to, think about what we’ve been told? Are we just supposed to swallow everything we’re told unexamined? Really?
Anyway, for 40 years and more KUT would have gotten five stars from me. They threw all that away. KUT, I’ll miss you. When’s the memorial service?

I’m a big fan of KUT, and am excited about the things KUTX will bring to Austin airwaves.
Love or hate John Aielli and his weird musical choices, but his eclectic range means he is open to having all kinds for in-​studio performances. He’s had the guitar ensemble my daughter plays in over to KUT twice now. It’s a fabulous experience for these teenagers.
And the new studio… wow! A beautiful, intimate space. I had the pleasure of being part of the live studio audience for Calexico’s performance yesterday. It was like seeing them in my living room, very much an up close and personal experience. In between songs, Jay Trachtenberg asked questions about their current album, their approach to the creative process, etc. At the end, audience members mingled with band members, took photos, got autographs, that type of thing. What a great way to be introduced to a new band. What a treat if you’re already fans.
All for the price of… free.
Thank you, Austin public radio.

I’m not sure how to deal with 98.9 KUTX. It’s really complicating my life, but. I will survive. In the meantime, still getting the news I love on KUT 90.5.

I love the NPR news programs in the morning and the evening, as well as Wait, Wait — Don’t Tell Me, Prairie Home Companion and Selected Shorts.
I could go the rest of my life without being subjected to John Aeilli’s mouth noises, dead air time, vapid commentary and condescending comments and I wouldn’t feel like I had been deprived.

I’ve lived in three different cities and have always tuned into the local NPR station for my radio entertainment.
The three cities are New Orleans, Austin and San Francisco. Of all the stations, KUT has the most character. I feel like every time I listen I’m not just listening to some DJ play the the shows that are coming up. I feel like I’m connecting with them on a really personal level. I feel like they are friends who are sharing music that they were really excited about and events around town that they really were interested in.
After living here in SF where all the local station does is play new shows, I very much miss the personalities of KUT. I feel like John, Jay, Jody, Susan, Kevin, and the rest of the crew were warm friends who accompanied me on all my car rides in Austin.
And yes, I LIKE JOHN AEILLI. God bless the man, he’s been on the air for over 30 years and he plays damned good music. He knows more about this town than anyone else and I like hearing about it.
And I can’t forget to mention Twine Time, one of my favorite shows on KUT. I mean what more can you want than a Saturday evening with Paul Ray, Otis redding, the Drifters and Bobby Blue Bland.
I could go on and on. I will try and catch all my favorites over here on the West coast but the two hour difference makes it hard. I’m jealous of all you Austinites who get to listen everyday.
With the station splitting into two, I can only imagine what great things KUT will bring to the Austin airwaves.

KUT has good programming. It would be better if they could adjust the speaker crushing bass during NPR. It’s bad.
The weekend programming is especially good. I love the waitwait, click/​clack, and most of the shows. However, I find Prarie Home Companion annoying. Does anyone think it’s funny? I hope they are not spending too much of the funding for that.

There’s so much good in KUT and I listen to it 90% of the time… I only have two beefs.
One is Garrision Keiller… I hate that it comes on twice during the weekend and I don’t like Prairie Home Companion and the second is John Aielli. He’s just too random and says innate things. Shouldn’t it be time for him to retire? I love when Jody Denver subs.

This is my first Unilocal review after being active for years now.
I love KUT. It has always been a big part of Austin to me. When I recently moved back from the east coast, one of the things I was looking forward to most was starting my day with KUT.
John Aielli is absolutely the worst DJ I’ve ever heard on the radio. He plays the same songs constantly (if I hear Fleet Foxes again I’m going to stab someone) and when he’s not doing that he’s playing random crap (really? An hour block dedicated to random songs with the word Annabelle in the title? What are we, third grader making mix tapes for our girlfriend?). He regularly doesn’t know how to operate the equipment resulting in long dead spaces on the radio (cardinal sin of broadcasting), and never has the details on events he’s talking about.
What started out as kind of charming has just become embarrassing and awful.
Today’s morning set was a breath of fresh air (not sure who was subbing, but THANKS). Austin deserves better. This guy may be «weird», but he’s also just plain awful in every way a DJ should be great.
Until he is replaced by someone with a modicum of skill and setlist chops, I’ll continue switching over to KUT2 on my iPhone for my morning commute once NPR wraps up.
TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE. ACK AWFUL NO.

I used to listen to KUT all day everyday. Now I cannot stand to listen to John Gayly anymore. His voice is like the fingernail scraping on a chalkboard. He is like some creepy old guy driving around elementary schools. I have been thinking about writing this for a long time but was afraid of the wrath of the Ailie fans. I really don’t care what color your shirt is. Fuchsia, chartreuse, yellow poke a dots, blah blah blah. It isn’t worth trying to win tickets to see Neil Diamond at the Paramount doing the nutcracker.
Then he gets on trips of playing the same thing over and over again when someone is coming to town. Yes I figured out that you loved Joni Mitchell when you played her 500 times an day when she was about to come to town. Yes I like her but not enough to put her in rotation 3 hours in the morning for four weeks.
The good. Jay, NPR news, Wait Wait don’t tell me and when John is on summer sabbatical.
My morning consists of NPR until nine… creepy voice comes on go to 101X and then to Charlie Hodge from 10am-​2pm. My own music until 4pm and then the news at 4pm.
That being said I still like KUT but can only limit it to parts of the day.
Hey anyone want to go caroling with Ailie at the steps of the capital on Dec. 4^th and a nice little stroll down Congress. Go, but watch your children and grandma. I think not.

Love news, Love NPR, PRI, and will never, EVER donate to this station because of JOHN AILIE. You can read more about this below — an incompetent, dehydrated, mouth-​breathing fogey.
John Ailie is the punishment I get for ever spending a minute past 9am listening to the radio at home. NO ONE LIKES THE GOTAN PROJECT DUDE AND ALSO DRINK A GLASS OF WATER SOMEDAY.

There are a lot of changes going on at KUT-​FM right now, and I’m not sure all of them represent the best decisions management might have made.
But it remains the best overall FM radio option in town. KVRX and KOOP continue to be my best source for new music discoveries, but KUT remains an essential element of Austin’s culture. Here’s hoping the folks in charge keep listening to those of us who listen to KUT.