Give me some nostalgia alternative classics radio!

January 9, 2014 9:02 AM

Where can I listen to some classic alternative music (or whatever the genre is called) online?

I love 80s alternative music (REM, XTC, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, etc.) and 90s alternative is pretty good too. I can stand some occasional grunge, but it's not my main thing. I'm more into "lighter", "poppier" sounds, so in the 2000s have drifted towards indie music mostly.

But there were some awesome radio stations that I so wish were still around. How I loved Radio Nigel. It got me through so much work! Another of my favorite stations recently closed shop. Help!

I've got Pandora, last.fm, and the various free-for-all sites, but I just haven't been able to duplicate the greatness of these stations.

posted by aarondesk to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

This speaks more to the kind of music listener you are rather than specifically being about [only] classic 80s or 90s indie, but BBC 6Music is very good. You are squarely the demographic who tunes in. There will be more specific channels for each and every genre but I'd still recommend 6Music.

The BBC has also just developed its Playlister app too, which is quite nifty.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:09 AM on January 9, 2014

You may want to search those artists on Songza and see if there's a playlist that matches what you want. They specialize in this sort of thing.

I searched XTC and got "Post-Punk Restlessness" and "Sophisticated 80s". There's also a "World of R.E.M." playlist that should be right up your alley, and a "90s Alternative" playlist.
posted by Sara C. at 10:01 AM on January 9, 2014

Grooveshark has some alternative stations, as well.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:15 AM on January 9, 2014

Subscribe to SiriusXM and listen to First Wave. They have on-line subscriptions, and you can listen to a sample on line to see if it's what you want.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:30 AM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Are you willing to pay? There is a Classic Alternative station on Sirius/XM, which you can pay to stream only.
posted by kuanes at 10:31 AM on January 9, 2014

Ruthless Bunny beat me by 5 seconds!
posted by kuanes at 10:31 AM on January 9, 2014

You will probably like Little Steven's Underground Garage--Steven Van Zandt's radio show. There are hundreds of (awesome) shows to stream in the archives.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:43 AM on January 9, 2014

3WK classic alternative radio
posted by wats at 11:57 AM on January 9, 2014

Slicing Up Eyeballs does something you might be interested in, a regular streamcast with mostly 80s stuff. Here's the link to the most recent one.
posted by shortfuse at 12:22 PM on January 9, 2014

Response by poster: Great answers all - many resources I didn't know existed. Thank you!
posted by aarondesk at 12:57 PM on January 9, 2014

I'm a little late to the party, but may I recommend soma.fm's Underground 80's? Listening yesterday, we heard The Cure, New Order and Sigue Sigue Sputnik--I bet you'd like it.
posted by zorseshoes at 2:54 PM on January 12, 2014