hearsay

I think radio is up for a comeback. Unlike the recording industry, which hasn’t found ways to use new technologies other than that which Apple has gifted them, the radio world is branching off into more powerful satellite radio and is taking advantage of streaming over the internet to overcome geographical boundaries.

When I first heard about podcasting, most podcasts available were homemade experiments that often suffered from way too much boring chit-chat by unfunny hosts. Among those, the only one that i could really stand was “whyme” out of Philadelphia. The hosts aren’t that knowledgeable, and the talk overwhelms the music, but you do have that basic joy of radio that you are listening to somebody else’s musical picks. Now with cross-platform support from music players like iTunes, this podcasting stuff is really taking off. In the past few months, I think that the whole idea has started to turn a corner in that there are regular radio stations podcasting their shows. For me it is a welcome change to be able to hear a non-streaming flow of music… Here’s my list of notables:

:: East Village Radio (NYC)
This seems to be the only group willing to put regular format music radio in a downloadable podcast format. There are a bunch of good shows… my favorites are Sandy Acres Sound Lab (podcast), Hi Low And Inbetween (podcast), and The Dirt Parking Lot (podcast). Talk is scarce, which is a really really good thing.

:: KEXP 90.3 (Seattle)
While KEXP shows are not currently downloadable, they do provide 2 different podcast services: the excellent Music That Matters (iTunes link), a downloadable mix of music, as well as in-studio live performances (iTunes link). There are a whole bunch of live sets available, thanks to CMJ last month in NYC.

:: KCRW 89.9 (Santa Monica)
I think KCRW needs to grow some balls and go more into podcasting, but it is great that they are making their live sessions from Morning Becomes Eclectic available via podcast (iTunes link).