Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Gen X Radio

It's hard to find stuff I actually want to listen to on the radio, and my commute is too short to justify hooking up my iPod and looking for something good on it.

The Buzz is ostensibly what I'd listen to, at least if I wanted to hear Spoon's The Underdog for the eleventy billionth time or the Chili Peppers rhyme syllables with words (hey-o / say-o) or the morning crew do a set-up skit about roses.*

*You do know that almost everything you hear on a morning show--the calls, the fights--is a setup, right? It's been planned in advance. The people on the phone are being paid.

So I hit seek a couple times and ended up at 99.7 FM. It's now billing itself as "Gen X radio", which I find a bit patronizing. However, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I tuned in during Fiona Apple's Criminal. Okay. Fine (though overplayed) song. This could go one of two directions.

Next was Tal Bachman's She's So High. Yeah, they're going that direction. Poppy 90s stuff. Great. Well, I'll give them one more shot...

Who Let The Dogs Out.

Really. I actually waited about 10 seconds because I figured it was some sort of commercial for a pet shelter.

It wasn't.

Done.

4 comments:

Bull E. Vard said...

I always hook up the Ipod. I can't stand music radio, I never have. I listened to Larry King on the radio when I was 10 and always had my radio set on talk radio. I switched to NPR about 6 years ago after getting tired of the staleness of talk radio and now, with the Ipod, I've almost completely tuned out radio.

I've had a post in my head about this, I just haven't been able to tie it to beer or food.

Unknown said...

You might try The Dam, 103.7 its a little 'heavier' with no DJ's. Also, you might give 90.9 The Bridge a listen, its a little 'softer', but you don't hear the same songs over and over and over, plus its listener supported.

JJSKCK said...

Bull - I hear you. I've listened to talk, and I can usually stand it until people start calling in. Then I can't change the channel fast enough.

Craig - I looked at the DAM's list of bands, and I think I would dig about half of it. The other half delves too far into 98.9 territory. But the Bridge - why didn't I know that existed? They have archived playlists, and my eyes just lit up at some of the stuff they play. The only downside is that they're not playing music when I'm usually in the car.

smh said...

I really wish KC had a station similar to BXR in Columbia. http://www.bxr.com

Easily the best commercial radio station I've ever encountered. Like no other I've listened to, and it isn't as if it's an independent station. It is owned by Cumulus. Just somehow it comes across as different, like they give just a hint of a shit.

I too was unaware of the Dam. It looks a little to SWMO for me--i.e. 98.9.