Online radio

May 21, 2005 10:20 AM

Need some online radio recommendations, and with a quickness. Just moved and we have like 24 country radio stations and 1 "Best of Aaron Neville/Peter Cetera" station. Help me escape the insanity!

-- The area I like is Coldplay, Aimee Mann, Ben Folds, Five For Fighting, Train, 3 Doors Down, Incubus, etc, whatever this is called (thought it was called Alternative but lately it seems metal has claimed that moniker). Also like mellower stuff like Phish.
-- Would like to hear some older stuff too.
-- No hip hop.
-- No "rage" alternative/metal, though admittedly I've found some of System of a Down, Default, Linkin Park, etc to be ok.
-- I probably won't want stations that regularly veer off into unusual stuff, like sports, talk, or Madagascar drum troupes.
-- I've found WMSV is pretty good, though they do the aforementioned thing.

Anyone in this musical genre want to share what they like listening to? Recommendations and discussion? Thanks.

posted by shannymara to computers & internet (16 comments total)

Try Radio Paradise. It's the grownup version of 70s FM radio.

Also, Soma FM has six streaming stations: you might like Indie Pop Rocks, their alternative pop station.
posted by curtm at 10:46 AM on May 21, 2005

XFM is good. And from the UK which becomes a little confusing in other time zones ("It is now 6 o'clock" "Not according to my clock, it's not"), but to make up for it, commercials are more bearable in British accents.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:34 AM on May 21, 2005

I'll offer a hearty recommendation for Last.fm. You basically create your own radio station using their not perfect, but remarkably thorough catalog. It takes a little while to build up enough tracks for your personal station, but in the meantime, you can listen to stations belonging to people with similar musical tastes. It's all I've been listening to for a while now.
posted by bibliowench at 11:47 AM on May 21, 2005

Seattle's KEXP continues to play outstanding music, much like the stuff you mentioned (though generally more esoteric). They're well worth checking out.
posted by jdroth at 11:58 AM on May 21, 2005

Second on KEXP for online music. They're great and frequently have in-studio sessions . . . the last one I listened to, I think, was HEM. Their playlists are always updated so you never have to wonder what that great song was. :> My musical tastes flow pretty much down the same rivulet yours do, and KEXP was like a light going on for me--can't recommend it enough.

This wasn't your question, but as an aside . . . satellite radio is great for the car and not expensive in terms of subscription fees. We got a new car with a free XM trial and haven't listened to much besides their "name stations"--Lucy, Ethel, Frank, et cetera--since.
posted by littlegreenlights at 12:36 PM on May 21, 2005

Radio David Byrne
posted by Thorzdad at 12:47 PM on May 21, 2005

Zappa Radio on zappa.com .
wfmu.org great thing here is random archive generater. kcrw.com Harry Shearer live sunday morn. ksdt radio.org San Diego,very good. .wnur.org/ features "this is hell"
.kjhk.org/ the sound from the center of the continent Lawrence Kansas .kdnk.org/what Hunter S. had to listen to(npr). http://www.anetstation.com/ the coldest server on the planet .
posted by hortense at 1:28 PM on May 21, 2005

bibliowench, last.fm looks amazing. I just signed up, and I've very impressed so far. Thanks for the link.
posted by danb at 2:01 PM on May 21, 2005

BTW: Yahoo Music is pretty cool. If you prepay for a year, it's only $5 / month, and you get to pick pretty much any music you like, with no commercials. And, it includes every one of the bands that you've just named. You can download the music and use it, during your subscription, or listen to pre-programed streams, on up to 3 computers or devices at a time.

A one-week trial is free, so you can see if you like it.
posted by curtm at 2:40 PM on May 21, 2005

You might also try finding a good college radio station with streaming audio. Generally commercial free, music you won't hear on the corporate stations for another 6 months to a year. Heck... I've been listening to my local station for a few years now, and up until recently I didn't realize that most people don't recognize the music in the ipod ads.

I stress a GOOD college station. There are some bad ones. impact89fm.org is my local station, has been voted best in the state for 4 out of the last 5 years by the state broadcasters association. Changes formats at 7 PM (one hour of talk then a different music show) but generally sounds like the sort of thing you're looking for the rest of the day. They offer either quicktime or windows media stream.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:03 PM on May 21, 2005

I've been listening to JackFM for a couple of years now. The DJ doesn't stick to any one genre - veers from alternative to top 40 to last decade's top 40 to well-known but not top 40 to oldies to classic rock to even dance, disco, and a very occasional country song .... never anything too obscure, mostly stuff I know although I've found new stuff from listening to it too. I've heard songs by everyone you've mentioned in that list at some point. (They also take requests. Oh, and almost no commercials.)
posted by Melinika at 10:03 PM on May 21, 2005

BTW, if you have an XM radio subscription, you can also listen to their stations over the Internet for free. Or you can buy Internet-only listening for $8 a month. Details.
posted by kindall at 12:44 AM on May 22, 2005

I'm a fan of the (evil) music subscription services; Napster and Rhapsody both have fairly good radio stations that serve your brand of music (Adult Alternative). Rhapsody lets you build your own by picking six artists and letting their system generate a playlist. What's nice about Rhapsody's service is that it's fully integrated with the Sonos digital audio receiver (a fantastic product and one I'll recommend to everyone that'll listen for as long as I'm alive)
posted by Merdryn at 5:20 AM on May 22, 2005

KFOG from San Francisco.
posted by DandyRandy at 11:00 AM on May 22, 2005

This may be too late, since this thread is already off the front page, but I adore WDVX for country/bluegrass, and WFUV for, well, eclectic good music.
posted by UKnowForKids at 1:31 PM on May 23, 2005

Now it's almost certainly too late, but I second WFUV.
posted by danb at 2:41 PM on May 24, 2005