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VELVET UMBRELLA RADIO
September Newsletter 2026
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Welcome
Welcome to Velvet Umbrella Radio
The videos are doors.
The playlists have stories.
Some pages lead to hidden corridors.
Follow the clues.
Open a few doors.
Get wonderfully lost.
Velvet Umbrella News
Velvet Umbrella Radio β Eclectic Wonderland, After Hours, Petals & Hooks. Hit play for showtimes and to explore further.
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BROADCASTS
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Transmission Week
Somewhere Past the Orchard
September 30 β October 6, 2026
An orchard. An invitation. And eventually, absolutely no interest in behaving.
1β3 PM Central
WDRT 91.9 FM
1β3 AM Central
WDRT 91.9 FM
Unfiltered
Mixcloud Exclusive
This week begins somewhere past the orchard. The road gets stranger. A door appears. Someone leaves an invitation. And by the time Petals & Hooks arrives, we have apparently decided the only reasonable response is to turn the music up and dance.
Wednesday wanders beyond the orchard. Friday overnight opens the invitation. And after that... well. Fuck it. We're dancing.
Wednesday β’ Eclectic Wonderland
Somewhere Past the Orchard
A Wisconsin road trip slips sideways into another story. Autumn roads, strange turns, music between destinations, and the persistent feeling that the map knows something we don't.
Friday Overnight β’ Velvet Umbrella Radio: After Hours
The Invitation
The road ends. The light changes. And somewhere after midnight, an invitation waits behind the next door. You can ignore it. Probably. But then again... you already came this far.
Petals & Hooks β’ Unfiltered
Fuck-It, We're Dancing
At some point, you can stop trying to understand the week. Sometimes the answer is not another clue, another map, or another strange door. Sometimes the answer is volume. Movement. A questionable decision made with excellent rhythm. Fuck it. We're dancing.
Through the invitation.
Onto the dance floor.
Some weeks give you answers.
Some weeks give you another door.
This one apparently gave us both...
and then turned the music up.
The road ends. The record doesn't.
First Contact β’ Part One
Transmissions
We Apologize for the Tractor Beam / There Is No Sound Between Stars
September 13β19, 2026
1β3 PM Central
WDRT 91.9 FM
1β3 AM Central
WDRT 91.9 FM
First contact rarely happens the way anyone expects. Sometimes there is a signal. Sometimes there is silence. Sometimes there is a tractor beam, an awkward apology, and several unanswered questions. This week opens the first half of the story.
Wednesday looks up. Friday goes farther out. And somewhere between the two, the signal changes.
Wednesday β’ Eclectic Wonderland
We Apologize for the Tractor Beam
Something has apparently gone slightly wrong with First Contact. Expect extraterrestrial detours, strange signals, questionable interstellar etiquette, and the sort of musical decisions that happen when nobody remembers where the manual went.
Friday Overnight β’ Velvet Umbrella Radio: After Hours
There Is No Sound Between Stars
After midnight, First Contact changes temperature. The chatter disappears. The distance gets larger. Signals drift through darkwave, dream pop, ambient spaces, and whatever waits quietly between one star and the next.
Part Two reopens an earlier transmission and follows the signal farther into the archive.
Same story. Different point of contact.
The signal keeps turning.
First Contact β’ Part Two
Transmissions
September 20β26, 2026
Eclectic Wonderland
1β3 PM Central
After Hours
1β3 AM Central
Sunday
3β4 AM Central
First Contact began last week.
The Extraterrestrial Encore happened earlier.
Both statements are apparently true.
There was time travel involved. We suggest accepting this before the paperwork gets worse.
Last week was WDRT's pledge drive, and somewhere between the tractor beam, the time travel, and our brief disappearance from the schedule, our extraterrestrial visitors decided to help.
We have chosen not to ask why several pledge forms now contain coordinates.
Wednesday β’ Eclectic Wonderland
Extraterrestrial Encore
The visitors are back. Or perhaps they were here first. Either way, the archive reopens for the complete extraterrestrial transmission.
Friday Overnight β’ After Hours
Stardust, Static & Stories
After midnight, the signal gets quieter. Stardust drifts through the static, and Side B refuses to end.
The visitors arrived.
Then apparently arrived earlier.
We traveled.
They stayed.
They helped with the pledge drive.
And now PUNK AM is taking over Sunday morning.
Everything appears to be proceeding normally.
September 6th -September 12th
This Week's Transmissions
Remixed By Day.
Haunted By Night.
Same frequencies. Different versions.
1β3 PM Central
WDRT 91.9 FM
1β3 AM Central
WDRT 91.9 FM
Wednesday pulls familiar songs apart, rewires them, rearranges the furniture, and puts everything back together slightly wrong. Then Friday overnight, the light changes. The signal gets darker. And somewhere inside the static... something starts listening back.
Wednesday β’ Eclectic Wonderland
Remixed, Rewired & Slightly Wrong
Remixes, alternate versions, unexpected reconstructions, and familiar songs returning from somewhere just slightly left of where we remembered them.
Friday Overnight β’ Velvet Umbrella Radio: After Hours
Angels In The Static
Darkwave, post-punk, dream pop, midnight signals, cathedral shadows, distant voices, and the frequencies living quietly between stations.
Haunted by night.
Some songs return wearing different clothes.
Some frequencies wait until everyone else has gone to sleep.
Either way...
the signal remains open.
The record keeps turning.
August 30th -September 5th
Three Shows β’ One Story
Open Every Window
Sometimes the only way forward is to let the air change.
Three transmissions trace the same movement from three different rooms. First, the windows open. Then the storm arrives. And somewhere beyond all that weather... the tide finally turns.
Each artwork below is a door into its part of the story. Click the image to wander deeper.
Part One of Three β’ Eclectic Wonderland
Open Every Window
Fresh air, strange songs, unexpected openings, and the peculiar courage it sometimes takes to stop holding everything shut.
Part Two of Three β’ Velvet Umbrella Radio: After Hours
Night After the Storm
The rain has moved on, but the room remembers it. After midnight, we stay with the silence that follows: dark rooms, distant signals, washed streets, and everything that sounds different once the weather breaks.
Part Three of Three β’ Velvet Umbrella Radio: Petals & Hooks
When the Tide Finally Turned
Eventually something gives. The current changes direction. The things we carried toward the water do not necessarily come back with us.
Three transmissions.
One change in the weather.
Open every window.
Let the storm pass through.
And when the tide finally turns...
follow it.
The record keeps turning.
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies πͺ
Chewy oatmeal cookies made with maple syrup, almond-hazelnut butter, dark chocolate chips, walnuts, and chia seeds for a wholesome little snack with plenty of personality.
Real ingredients. Big flavor. No disappointments.
Good snacks. Good vibes. Good humans. πͺπ
Keep your snacks close. π
Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cupcakes β€οΈ
Soft, chocolatey red velvet cupcakes adapted for gluten-free baking, finished with fluffy vanilla buttercream and a little extra sparkle.
A little red, a lot of love... because every day deserves a cupcake.
Good snacks. Good vibes. Good humans. β€οΈ
Keep your snacks close. π
Gluten-Free Brownies
Rich, fudgy, chocolatey little squares made with almond flour, cacao, coconut sugar, and plenty of chocolate chips.
A little square of comfort... because chocolate helps.
Good snacks. Good vibes. Good humans. π
Keep your snacks close. π
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes π
Moist pumpkin cupcakes filled with cozy fall spices, maple syrup, and coconut sugar, then topped with creamy vanilla frosting.
A little bit of fall magic... because every day is better with cupcakes.
Good snacks. Good vibes. Good humans. ππ
Keep your snacks close. π