Techno Radio in Portland?

December 20, 2003 9:36 PM

My son moved to Portland over a year ago from the SF Bay Area and misses the radio choices we have here, especially for techno. I googled for info but am not sure how current the information I found is. Does anyone have suggestions for techno radio stations in the greater metro Portland/Seattle/Vancouver area? He drives a lot between Portland and Seattle for his work and would appreciate the call sign as well as the number.
posted by Lynsey to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

The Portland radio market doesn't have anything like that as far as I know. Pretty much every radio station here is part of Clear Channel or Entercom... neither of whom play much in the way of what you could call 'creative' music.

If he can afford it, I'd reccomend getting Satellite Radio.
posted by SpecialK at 9:53 PM on December 20, 2003

Portland: great beer and so-so radio. Your son might find something he likes left of the dial, but probably only from 9 - 10 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. I second the Satellite Radio recommendation.
However KEXP (90.3 out of Seattle) is worth investigating (they stream as well).
posted by TomSophieIvy at 10:29 PM on December 20, 2003

Does he have broadband? There are plenty of choices online. Dublab is a nice place to start.
posted by anathema at 2:02 AM on December 21, 2003

Anathema - I don't know of many people who get broadband in their cars between Portland and Seattle...
posted by SpecialK at 2:44 AM on December 21, 2003

You people are living in the stone age!
[That's what I get for jumping online at 5 in the morning!]
Nothing to see here, move along.
posted by anathema at 2:50 AM on December 21, 2003

KBOO (90.7) is probably the coolest radio station in the country. Also, there is a pirate radio station that plays all drum & bass / electronic beats. It's called the 'Space Station' and the call signal moves around. I remember usually finding it on the extreme low of the FM range.
posted by djacobs at 5:32 AM on December 21, 2003

If your son is a geek, I'd suggest getting a MP3 playing stereo or ipod with appropriate attachments so he can carry mp3s wherever he drives.

I've got a mp3 playing CD player with a simple 10 disc holding sleeve on my sun visor. That gives me 7Gb of music (10x 700Mb CDRs) on the go.
posted by mathowie at 6:16 AM on December 21, 2003

Oh. That Portland. This Portland has good radio.
posted by theora55 at 7:13 AM on December 21, 2003

There's some pirate radio in the Portland metro that's pretty okay, techno-wise.
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 1:55 PM on December 21, 2003

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, I appreciate your advice.
posted by Lynsey at 8:38 PM on December 21, 2003

Too bad he lives too far north to get KBVR, Oregon State's station, as we have a multitude of electronic DJs. Anyway, I suggest checking out any other college stations that happened to be situated somewhere along the commute, such as the Portland State station.
posted by asterisk at 2:00 AM on December 22, 2003