Non-US radio, please
September 28, 2012 3:14 PM Subscribe
What are your favorite non-American radio stations? Bonus points for stations that are available online, and mostly play music that I am unlikely to hear on American radio.
Do you want English speaking radios or are you interested in other radios?
One of the radios I like for their variety of music genres is Espace Musique (Radio Canada). (Click on "Écouter espace musique" at the top of the page).
posted by Milau at 3:30 PM on September 28, 2012 [2 favorites]
One of the radios I like for their variety of music genres is Espace Musique (Radio Canada). (Click on "Écouter espace musique" at the top of the page).
posted by Milau at 3:30 PM on September 28, 2012 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I want all languages. It was listening to a Brazilian station online that got me thinking about this (but I don't want to exclude anglophone stations, either).
posted by ocherdraco at 3:42 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by ocherdraco at 3:42 PM on September 28, 2012
Africa No. 1 from Libreville, Gabon.
FM Addis from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
MEDI 1 from Tangier, Morocco. (The Windows Media stream seems to be broken for me, but the Real Media stream works.)
Radio Cairo from Cairo, Egypt.
Radio Patriote from Bamako, Mali.
Radio Tunis (Culture Channel) from Tunis, Tunisia. (If you don't read Arabic, it's the second button over from the top; the streaming URL includes "CulturellePop.")
posted by mykescipark at 3:44 PM on September 28, 2012 [6 favorites]
FM Addis from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
MEDI 1 from Tangier, Morocco. (The Windows Media stream seems to be broken for me, but the Real Media stream works.)
Radio Cairo from Cairo, Egypt.
Radio Patriote from Bamako, Mali.
Radio Tunis (Culture Channel) from Tunis, Tunisia. (If you don't read Arabic, it's the second button over from the top; the streaming URL includes "CulturellePop.")
posted by mykescipark at 3:44 PM on September 28, 2012 [6 favorites]
I'll plug the BBC Asian Network.
I go through phases of listening to Radio 1 and I find it interesting that while their playlist overlaps with American pop music to a great extent, the timing's different. Everything is either six months ahead or six months behind the US. That is to be expected, but I find it amusing to discover some song I was sick of six months ago as suddenly become popular.
posted by hoyland at 4:01 PM on September 28, 2012
I go through phases of listening to Radio 1 and I find it interesting that while their playlist overlaps with American pop music to a great extent, the timing's different. Everything is either six months ahead or six months behind the US. That is to be expected, but I find it amusing to discover some song I was sick of six months ago as suddenly become popular.
posted by hoyland at 4:01 PM on September 28, 2012
I really like Radio-Clásica from Santiago Vazquez, Uruguay. A plus to me is that it's also in AM (as the terrestrial radio station), so it has that fuzzy warmth and far-away quality that FM stations often lack.
posted by spinifex23 at 4:01 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by spinifex23 at 4:01 PM on September 28, 2012
Oh yeah - they broadcast in Spanish.
posted by spinifex23 at 4:01 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by spinifex23 at 4:01 PM on September 28, 2012
Another favorite is Catalunya Música, broadcasting from Barcelona, Spain. They primarily broadcast in the Catalan language.
posted by spinifex23 at 4:03 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by spinifex23 at 4:03 PM on September 28, 2012
ORF fm4 -- pop music from Austria (hybrid English German)
posted by faustdick at 4:07 PM on September 28, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by faustdick at 4:07 PM on September 28, 2012 [2 favorites]
Phantom IE! They play stuff that makes it to the US, eventually, but they are light years ahead it seems.
posted by kellyblah at 4:46 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by kellyblah at 4:46 PM on September 28, 2012
Best answer: FIP Direct (France). Good mix of pop music of many flavors.
Musique 3, Belgium (French). Classical.
posted by Currer Belfry at 5:11 PM on September 28, 2012
Musique 3, Belgium (French). Classical.
posted by Currer Belfry at 5:11 PM on September 28, 2012
This isn't a direct answer to the question, but if you use iTunes, you can click on "Radio" in the left-hand sidebar (under the Library at the top), and then go to the "International/World" heading to have over 700 choices of radio from all over the world. It's a fun way to sample this kind of thing without having to visit a zillion separate websites.
posted by hippybear at 5:21 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by hippybear at 5:21 PM on September 28, 2012
Morning Becomes Eclectic - KCRW is awesome.
posted by KokuRyu at 6:16 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by KokuRyu at 6:16 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
CITR is a student/community radio station out of the University of British Columbia, which has been programming all manner of everything (Abba-to-Zappa) for decades. Piles of podcasts are available.
full reveal: I program a show there
posted by philip-random at 8:13 PM on September 28, 2012
full reveal: I program a show there
posted by philip-random at 8:13 PM on September 28, 2012
Response by poster: These are all great. Hippybear, I know about the iTunes thing, but I'm looking for specific recommendations, not just bins full of feeds to sift through. (Though I'm sure others might find that useful.)
posted by ocherdraco at 8:25 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by ocherdraco at 8:25 PM on September 28, 2012
le mouv out of Paris has a fair amount of English language music but little that you'd hear on US terrestrial radio. It has some overlap with BBC Radio 6.
BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC4 without the news.
tunein.com is a great resource for exploring all the stations mentioned here and the (free) app makes it easy to find these stations from anywhere. I haven't used itunes as mentioned by hippybear but it sounds like they work the same way.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 8:39 PM on September 28, 2012
BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC4 without the news.
tunein.com is a great resource for exploring all the stations mentioned here and the (free) app makes it easy to find these stations from anywhere. I haven't used itunes as mentioned by hippybear but it sounds like they work the same way.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 8:39 PM on September 28, 2012
Seconding Espace Musique (of Radio-Canada), their jazz selection is the BEST!
The website features this really cool music streaming thing - I only tried with Jazz and it is sub-divided into New, Apero, Crooners, Vocal Jazz, Latine Jazz, Westcoast, Jazz Standards, and many more, plus special selections focusing on certain time period or artist. I listen to it all the time, and also found it excellent for background music in quiter parties.
posted by eisenl at 9:13 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
The website features this really cool music streaming thing - I only tried with Jazz and it is sub-divided into New, Apero, Crooners, Vocal Jazz, Latine Jazz, Westcoast, Jazz Standards, and many more, plus special selections focusing on certain time period or artist. I listen to it all the time, and also found it excellent for background music in quiter parties.
posted by eisenl at 9:13 PM on September 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
I was contacted by Aquarium Radio about getting access to some of my DJ sets for their programming, so if you like laid-back disco and house music, they're probably a thing you'll enjoy.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 10:19 PM on September 28, 2012
posted by beaucoupkevin at 10:19 PM on September 28, 2012
Australian Radio is grouse.
The ABC has lots of stations for you to listen to including JJJ which is good modern music and ABC FM which is classical. You can also get an Australian take on the world with the talk programs.
In addition Melbourne has excellent radio including the community broadcasters RRR and PBS. Both have a lot of different styles of music.
FBI from Sydney is also worth listening to.
While looking for streaming sites from Australia this popped up with a list of stations all around the world that stream Mike's Radio World.
posted by sien at 1:02 AM on September 29, 2012 [3 favorites]
The ABC has lots of stations for you to listen to including JJJ which is good modern music and ABC FM which is classical. You can also get an Australian take on the world with the talk programs.
In addition Melbourne has excellent radio including the community broadcasters RRR and PBS. Both have a lot of different styles of music.
FBI from Sydney is also worth listening to.
While looking for streaming sites from Australia this popped up with a list of stations all around the world that stream Mike's Radio World.
posted by sien at 1:02 AM on September 29, 2012 [3 favorites]
Contact FM from France for upbeat dance/house music. Don't know if you get enough of this genre in the US.
posted by mirage pine at 1:59 AM on September 29, 2012
posted by mirage pine at 1:59 AM on September 29, 2012
Radio Klara, from Belgium, for classical music and jazz.
Radio 3, from Spain, for alt rock and world music.
posted by Skeptic at 2:52 AM on September 29, 2012
Radio 3, from Spain, for alt rock and world music.
posted by Skeptic at 2:52 AM on September 29, 2012
Some online stations that I highly recommend are:
Overfitting Disco
Intergalactic FM (which has four different streams)
Radio Stad Den Haag
They cover a fairly wide range of music between them, but it all falls under an umbrella sound of distinctively European dance music, in particular I'd say Dutch & German. Essentially following the continuum of 70s cosmic disco & space disco --> 80s italo disco --> 90s european techno, nu electro & italo revival --> contemporary house, techno, electro and nu disco, with a heavy emphasis on the late seventies & early eighties. There are also live shows (mostly in Dutch I'd say), and various vintage radio adverts, samples, film clips etc, adding to the feel.
posted by iivix at 5:11 AM on September 29, 2012
Overfitting Disco
Intergalactic FM (which has four different streams)
Radio Stad Den Haag
They cover a fairly wide range of music between them, but it all falls under an umbrella sound of distinctively European dance music, in particular I'd say Dutch & German. Essentially following the continuum of 70s cosmic disco & space disco --> 80s italo disco --> 90s european techno, nu electro & italo revival --> contemporary house, techno, electro and nu disco, with a heavy emphasis on the late seventies & early eighties. There are also live shows (mostly in Dutch I'd say), and various vintage radio adverts, samples, film clips etc, adding to the feel.
posted by iivix at 5:11 AM on September 29, 2012
Beyond the Beat Generation is an excellent streaming station of European provenance that plays nothing but, like, garage music and psychedelia recorded between 1964 & 1968. Lots of recordings that, as far as I know, you can't hear anywhere else.
posted by mr. digits at 7:58 AM on September 29, 2012
posted by mr. digits at 7:58 AM on September 29, 2012
Basso, particularly the music programs that are on the evening, covering ground from jazz to all sorts of electronic music, via hip-hop and reggae.
posted by Authorized User at 9:48 AM on September 29, 2012
posted by Authorized User at 9:48 AM on September 29, 2012
FIP - from France is the most effortlessly cool radio station in the world.
Broadcast from Paris (without commercials) the station is an eclectic and brilliant mix of music, with a slight bias towards Jazz & French music with occasional short news/traffic bulletins. There is only one "feature" a daily jazz cafe show each evening. The presenters rarely interrupt the music, but they have a totally unique soft & sultry tone when they do that somehow manages to turn a traffic report into an almost erotic experience.
It is pretty much all I listen to wherever I am in the world.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 10:28 AM on September 29, 2012 [10 favorites]
Broadcast from Paris (without commercials) the station is an eclectic and brilliant mix of music, with a slight bias towards Jazz & French music with occasional short news/traffic bulletins. There is only one "feature" a daily jazz cafe show each evening. The presenters rarely interrupt the music, but they have a totally unique soft & sultry tone when they do that somehow manages to turn a traffic report into an almost erotic experience.
It is pretty much all I listen to wherever I am in the world.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 10:28 AM on September 29, 2012 [10 favorites]
Do you like ambient music? Then weekly Australian Ultima Thule is for you.
George Cruickshank makes a quick introduction in each playlist, then lets the music play itself out.
Soothing, relaxing, mind-opening. For example, who knew that there was an ambient tuba genre. Look for podcast UT858.
The web site lists the artists and pieces that are played during each podcast.
And the site offers archives that go waaaaay back, on iTunes.
posted by seawallrunner at 5:49 PM on September 29, 2012 [1 favorite]
George Cruickshank makes a quick introduction in each playlist, then lets the music play itself out.
Soothing, relaxing, mind-opening. For example, who knew that there was an ambient tuba genre. Look for podcast UT858.
The web site lists the artists and pieces that are played during each podcast.
And the site offers archives that go waaaaay back, on iTunes.
posted by seawallrunner at 5:49 PM on September 29, 2012 [1 favorite]
http://www.abcdanceradio.com/
I have SiriusXM, but when I am home and looking for a good chill radio station, this is my go to.
posted by tehrob at 1:10 AM on September 30, 2012
I have SiriusXM, but when I am home and looking for a good chill radio station, this is my go to.
posted by tehrob at 1:10 AM on September 30, 2012
I like P3Star, which is Swedish. You do get some of the American hits, but mixed in with European stuff.
posted by marginaliana at 8:33 AM on October 1, 2012
posted by marginaliana at 8:33 AM on October 1, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks again, everyone. These are all really great. Yesterday I did my physics homework while listening to Radiomeuh, and today I'm doing research to Intergalactic FM. I'm really looking forward to exploring all these suggestions.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:26 AM on October 1, 2012
posted by ocherdraco at 11:26 AM on October 1, 2012
TSF Jazz - for that 'in Paris in a cheap hotel drinking red wine' vibe.
True story - there's a hotel in the Latin Quarter where the radios in the rooms can pick up nothing but this station.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:42 AM on October 8, 2012
True story - there's a hotel in the Latin Quarter where the radios in the rooms can pick up nothing but this station.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:42 AM on October 8, 2012
Radio Monte Carlo is the sound of Monaco. For good and ill, unfortunately. Sometimes it's magical, and at other times the verisimilitude is a bit more than one might want.
posted by mumkin at 10:38 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by mumkin at 10:38 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Nostalgie - Belgian radio focusing on the 30 - 40 something market, only the sappiest clichéd mess from the 80s and 90s!
However what keeps me listening is the ever-so-cheap sounding Flemish advertisements in between the songs.. Makes my daily commute to rural east Flanders much more enjoyable!
posted by channey at 11:41 PM on October 16, 2012
However what keeps me listening is the ever-so-cheap sounding Flemish advertisements in between the songs.. Makes my daily commute to rural east Flanders much more enjoyable!
posted by channey at 11:41 PM on October 16, 2012
Response by poster: Good lord. Just trying FIP for the first time and it is amazing.
posted by ocherdraco at 1:35 PM on October 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by ocherdraco at 1:35 PM on October 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
ocherdraco: "Good lord. Just trying FIP for the first time and it is amazing."
Wow, seconded.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:26 AM on October 18, 2012
Wow, seconded.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:26 AM on October 18, 2012
This (Music India Online) is the best source of indian music I have found so far. Lots of streams of various types of Indian music. I recommend the instrumental classical music ones.
posted by dhruva at 10:05 AM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by dhruva at 10:05 AM on December 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
while surfing metafilterat work.posted by btfreek at 3:21 PM on September 28, 2012 [9 favorites]