Some of my friends have been talking up WOXY internet radio forever now, but I just got off my ass and listened to it for the first time today. It's pretty awesome. Like decent people everywhere, I more-or-less stopped listening to the radio years ago. Nevertheless, I've always missed the element of serendipity. And now, thanks to the bounty of the internet, there's this radio station that plays . . . music that doesn't suck. What a great idea!
« Small Price | Main | A Tale of Two Maps »
Woxy
13 Sep 2007 05:23 pm
Comments (32)
Funny, I thought you only listened to music that sucks. When did your tastes change?
I miss exactly zero opportunities to plug this, and here is another one:
www.kexp.org
Thank me later. It's yet another reason Seattle is the greatest city in America. (Where else could one put on the radio in the car and never have to change the channel?
Hell, you could just go through their Live at KEXP archives for hours, let alone the stuff playing live.
Only downside: while WOXY's feed tells WMP (not sure about others; I generally listen only at work where I do not have iTunes, etc.) every song that's playing as it's playing, KEXP does not. But if you go to the website, you'll see a scrollbar in the upper left that is displaying the song, and the playlist archive is very easy to use.
Pandora is kind of like controlled serendipity.
For big public radio, MPR's The Current station is pretty good. About half of it is stuff that annoys the hell out of me, but a few times per day I find myself thinking "Whoa, what was that?" Plus, they do a great job of plugging smaller local acts, which may or may not be a draw for people outside the Twin Cities.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/
I used to listen to WOXY when I was in high school a couple of decades ago. I was certainly very lucky that there was an alternative rock radio station in that part of the country at that time. Of course, I preferred WWSU, the Wright State University station, even before my summers DJing there, but I was kind of an elitist back in those days....
Ditto on kexp.org. They've been riding a nice cash infusion from Paul Allen for close to a decade and their website is fanstastic. Archives, life performance, great mix of music...DJ Riz is my personal favorite.
put me firmly in the KEXP camp. the weekend reggae and blues shows are awesome, as are the live shows.
excellent DJs, boss website, and an excellent playlist.
there are loads of internet radio stations that don't suck (hell, i used to be in that very business); it's not clear that there is money to be made from internet radio stations that don't suck....
What Howard said. Living in Chicago, I like to listen to wkze.com of Red Hook, NY.
Matt, this was a painfully amateurish plug to have to read.
It's unfortunate that it streams only in 64kbps. But I'll try it.
Heretofore, my favorite station has been KCRW from L.A. Really great mix of world, classic rock, oddities, and contemporary stuff, very tastefully done.
kexp = good stuff
I'm a huge fan of pandora.com. It customizes radio "staions" based on an artist or song you put in. Then you can mix and match different stations you've created. Super easy to use. Perfect mix of control and serendipity.
I'm not a huge fan of Pandora -- doesn't it kick you off after a while? At least, that's what used to happen to me.
As was previously stated, you must check out The Current. An indie music public radio station on my FM dial = a beautiful thing.
As BP said, listen online: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/
WFMU is clearly the best radio station ever. What freeform radio ought to be. All their shows are archieved!
I usually listen to John in the Morning on KEXP, then switch over to WOXY in the afternoon. Past couple of months, it seems like WOXY's playlists have been more varied than KEXP's. Both are better than anything I could find over the air here in Chicago.
WWOZ. All New Orleans, all the time.
Joe, you beat me to it. I was going to plug WWOZ as well. www.wwoz.org, it's the only radio station you'll ever need. It's what got me through college!!
WOXY is ok, but it runs towards the mainstream a lot. KALX is a way more interesting station for people with broad tastes.
Ditto on KEXP.org The archived stuff is great, especially The Road House, John Vandy's show on Wed. 6-9pm and then there's the best 3 hours of radio in the world, Preachin the Blues, Sunday 9 -12 in the morning with Johnny Horn.
Music that doesen't suck? All I see is a bunch of lame indie rock.
You're local top 40 and hip-hop radio stations > Indie Rock
Radio and othe old media provide people with the joy of discovering things through chance that is missing through google searches or putting your favorite songs on an ipod.
I would say that internet radio is only a pale imitation of the old thing because it is still aware of itself as being a medium that is consumed through one of the many choices available to its consumer, allowing it to generate a very specific niche instead of contributing to a more generalized interest within general culture. All the while the flight of the talented into these specialities deeply undermines the quality of old media, contributing to the decay of culture into monolithtic venting on a few globalized celebrities.
Down with the Internet! Read my blog!
There's a new station in upstate New York, WEXT, that also has a no-suck format. They do streaming broadcasts.
WEQX, a commercial station out of Manchester, Vermont, is also pretty good, although they let some bad stuff get thru.
What Howard said. Living in Chicago, I like to listen to wkze.com of Red Hook, NY.
Posted by EdM | September 13, 2007 6:20 PM
Holy crap. Red Hook, NY?! Wow. As a former resident, I am flabbergasted. Because man, the years spent there were decidedly un-fun. I can't listen at work but will definitely check this out when I get home. At first I thought that you must have meant Red Hook, Brooklyn, but then I checked out the list of local advertisers and sure enough, there were some darn familiar names there. Amazing!!!
People with the best taste in music listen to wncw (http://www.wncw.org)
I love stations that have a "no-suck" format.
My girlfriend listens to nothing but WOXY and KEXP, while I stay stuck to KKJZ (playing jazz out of Long Beach) and Big Country Legends 93.5 KBHT out of East Texas. Both are available online.
97x... BANG! The future of Rock'n'Roll.
Ohio's claims to Rock'n'Roll's origins are tenuous at best, but we did give the world Bootsy Collins, Devo, and the best internet radio station -- once run by Miami University students.
Those bothered by the 64kbps bitrate at WOXY should download VLC and give the 32kbps aacPlus stream a try. It really does sound significantly better. Admittedly this seems to be partly trickery, giving crisper high-end at the expense of midtones. Still, it's better than conventional FM if you ask me.
It's great. Every time I come back to visit MY's site, I see another obnoxious elitist post from Dalton-boy promoting his uber-hipster tastes as the solid gold standard of excellence. And it reminds me what an asshat he is & why I only very rarely stop by.
I've always loved WOXY. Hell, I remember the night they went off the air, and then when their first internet version died. It's so good to have them back and doing well.
It's great to see mention of WEQX, too. That was one of very few stations that reached my college 20 years ago. If your were on the 4th floor of the dorm facing the right direction. Damn Berkshires are pretty, but blocked most signals.
Better than WOXY:
www.3wk.com
Comments closed September 27, 2007.
| 
Heads in the Sand
Actually, in DC, the new 94.7 only kinda sucks, which is a ringing endorsement for a traditional radio station.
But, you're right, WOXY doesn't suck at all.
Posted by cminus | September 13, 2007 5:42 PM