June 20, 2001

8:13 AM

There was one streaming radio site that I loved, but it's fallen on hard times. I return to Shoutcast again and again, but I can't seem to find anything interesting. What streams do you listen to during your long work days?
posted by preguicoso (77 comments total)

i listen to the constant stream of nonsense that comes from my co-workers mouths.
posted by o2b at 8:15 AM on June 20, 2001

tags trance trip
link builder doesn't work on this computer, so http://www.tagstrance.com
posted by starduck at 8:18 AM on June 20, 2001

02b -

Oh really, you listen to that stream too?
posted by preguicoso at 8:26 AM on June 20, 2001

i'm always amazed with the quality both of the stream and the tunes over at monkeyradio ("Grooving. Sexy. Beats.") Plus you can always check out what's been playing for last few hours.
posted by gwint at 8:28 AM on June 20, 2001

I always like Phishcast. Nothing like like Phish.
posted by rift2001 at 8:29 AM on June 20, 2001

I like the number one radio station out of Helsinki, Radio Mafia (RealPlayer required).
posted by borgle at 8:32 AM on June 20, 2001

What I liked about Dublab.com was their choice of music - stuff like:

burnt friedman
pole
dj shadow

anyone know any similar sites that stream the kind of music you'd find reviewed in The Wire?
posted by preguicoso at 8:35 AM on June 20, 2001

I just sit here and stream in porn all day..ooh did I say porn I meant NPR and Internet Christian Radio...

Ok It's porn. a lot of porn.
posted by crackheadmatt at 8:47 AM on June 20, 2001

I'm a folkie, so I usually tune into GidaFolk or Grassy Hill from work (both available at shoutcast.com).

The all-live, all-Moxy Fruvous channel is also kind of interesting. But it does get tired after an hour or two of listening.
posted by sanitycheck at 8:48 AM on June 20, 2001

Spinner is pretty good, if only because they have a pretty wide variety of genres.

Requires download and realplayer (i think), but pretty painless.
posted by conquistador at 8:52 AM on June 20, 2001

I used to listen to Sonicnet, but then they did some sort of redesign/upgrade/monkeyshines and it started crashing my freaking browser all the time. Lovely.

May I recommend for the hopelessly eclectic Seattle's own KCMU?

Er . . . I guess it's KEXP now, but the link is fine.
posted by Skot at 8:52 AM on June 20, 2001

Hey preguicoso, I would recommend any of the stations on this page. Not only is the Brainwashed.com _the_ best site for left-of-center music coverage, but their streaming broadcast has everything from Coil and Godspeed You Black Emperor! to Kid 606 and Luke Vibert. Highly recommended.
posted by almostcool at 8:52 AM on June 20, 2001

preguicoso - try music for hackers. betalounge is also excellent, although most of the artists are more dance-oriented.
posted by lbergstr at 8:55 AM on June 20, 2001

WOXY, baby. The only way to fly.
posted by gsh at 9:01 AM on June 20, 2001

I love sonicnet. I built my own station, packed with jazz. Yum. If I get sick of that, I like KALX a lot.
posted by acridrabbit at 9:01 AM on June 20, 2001

WMSE, the station of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Varied but reliably good schedule. Jonny Z's Chicken Shack is my Friday morning raft into the weekend. I used to listen to JazzRadio.net out of Berlin but I've been having problems with their stream lately. Loving this thread! Loving MonkeyRadio, too.... thanks.
posted by mimi at 9:04 AM on June 20, 2001

almostcool -

right on, thanks for the tip. I didn't know brainwashed had a radio stream. Considering I like just about all the bands they host, it should be good.

I'm listening to Monkeyradio now. It's pretty good.
posted by preguicoso at 9:04 AM on June 20, 2001

My personal favorite is LaunchCAST. You can build your own radio station, through your own choices and through collaborative filtering. You can rate everything from genres, to artists, to albums, to songs -- even sit up different moods for your station.
posted by annekef at 9:07 AM on June 20, 2001

LaunchCast is a great site. It lets you rate music to increase or decrease its frequency. They have a pretty decent catalog of music too.
posted by cludwig at 9:14 AM on June 20, 2001

Do'h! You beat me to it annekef. :-)
posted by cludwig at 9:15 AM on June 20, 2001

WFMU is the best best radio station ever - freeform and independent (commercial and sponsor-free), they stream in every single format (including 128kbps mp3s) and they've archived pretty much every single show for the last year or so. Clay plays the music you'd hear in the Wire...

WNYU - college radio - new music in the afternoon...
KFJC is good California independent radio...
Digital Bombing for the dnb (BBC style)
and Groovetech for all things electronic
posted by panopticon at 9:24 AM on June 20, 2001

erika.net
posted by sudama at 9:28 AM on June 20, 2001

Radio Paradise is my second-favorite, behind MonkeyRadio. They play "eclectic intelligent rock" from a farmhouse in California somewhere. You can rate songs, tell the DJ why you like certain songs more than others, and see the entire playlist.

And they broadcast through winamp, NOT realplayer.
posted by some chick at 9:29 AM on June 20, 2001

KTXT - Texas Tech I was a dj there for two years during college. This station had a big influence in my musical tastes. They don't care about playing the newest song. If a song sounds great, it stays in rotation for YEARS. Where else can you listen to the best songs from Sonic Youth, MC 900 FT Jesus, Toadies, Saint Ettiene, and Guided By Voices? Personal fave they are playing right now: Was Not Was "Hello Dad. I'm In Jail" What a great song. Makes me want to watch the movie Pump Up the Volume. Now THAT was pirate radio.
posted by lheiskell at 9:29 AM on June 20, 2001

a 2nd for KEXP (used to be known as KCMU) -- real time play lists on their site, streams in an uncompressed format for those with a lot of money to spend on a fat pipe, plus popular compressed streams. Keeps me happy all day long.
posted by daver at 9:33 AM on June 20, 2001

forget all those - www.xfm.co.uk
posted by monkeyJuice at 9:41 AM on June 20, 2001

indiepopradio, baby. Where else can you hear the new Lucksmiths single on the web?
posted by tweebiscuit at 9:46 AM on June 20, 2001

Mainstreamer that I am, I like CNet Radio, and VH1 atWork. You can all laugh now.
posted by owillis at 10:06 AM on June 20, 2001

I second the motion for Spinner or WFMU.
posted by crunchland at 10:07 AM on June 20, 2001

BTW, those bastards at Microsoft have a nice music site too, the audiophiles at work say it has good stuff (and pop for people like me too)
posted by owillis at 10:07 AM on June 20, 2001

Best music on the web:

KEXP: Paul Allen's Station - don't let the fact that a fat, land-grabbing whore owns it scare you away, it really is good.
Formerly KCMU.

or

BBC Radio One - on Fridays between 10:00AM-2:30PM. Mixed bag the rest of the time.
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger at 10:13 AM on June 20, 2001

screw Microsoft's music site - doesn't work on Mac

quote: "We're sorry, but MSN Music currenly requires a PC system"
posted by panopticon at 10:14 AM on June 20, 2001

Rare Music has great choices courtesy of an amazing record store in Manhattan called Gimme Gimme. Hosted by Grand Royal. Lots of old funk, electric jazz and hip hop.
posted by aeiou at 10:18 AM on June 20, 2001

Panopticon is right - WFMU is perhaps the king of all college stations.

The college station that I DJ'ed at is WTUL 91.5 FM in New Orleans. Unfortunately, they're not webcasting right now 'cause they just got the $$$$$ for a new transmitter, so service is uneven...

I tried indiepopradio, but the weird plug-in thingy crashed.
posted by preguicoso at 10:18 AM on June 20, 2001

I love Bollywood music, so I've got this one punched in to my audiotron. The new firmware available on their email list lets you do streaming internet radio.
posted by machaus at 10:19 AM on June 20, 2001

preguicoso - WFMU isn't a college radio station - it used to be, but they bought the license from Upsala College before they closed. All the money comes from listeners...
posted by panopticon at 10:30 AM on June 20, 2001

for new music/electronica/post-war composers: l'audible and laudanum. wnyc's new sounds. orang.
posted by judith at 10:33 AM on June 20, 2001

Well, I'm gonna add my voice to those suggesting MonkeyRadio. Funniest thing is, I wasn't really into that genre of music before I started listening to that stream but it somehow caught on and is a constant for me, it has turned me on to a few artists that I'm now hunting down CDs for. TagsTranceTrip is another in my list but doesn't get as much play. GrooveSalad is another.

Looks like I've got a few streams to check out today!
posted by mutagen at 10:37 AM on June 20, 2001

» SomaFM
» ChillAmbience
» Opera Smackdown
posted by Scotch at 10:44 AM on June 20, 2001

netradio used to have a snazzy trip-hop/dnb channel...haven't listened in a while...

WEXP...still good, despite the XP...
posted by kphaley454 at 10:47 AM on June 20, 2001

Check out .... (Monkey Radio)
Smokin seduction w/
Thievery Corp.
Dj Shadow & Food
Herbaliser
Filia Brazilia

+all other manner of abstrakt/downtempo/acid jazz/weirdnessss

Definitely cool stuff.
posted by drgonzo at 11:02 AM on June 20, 2001

ChannelZ Plays an excellent mix of new and old alternative leaning stuff from all over the world with only a few of the commercial alt. rock songs mixed in.
posted by remo at 11:23 AM on June 20, 2001

Terry.
posted by bilco at 11:27 AM on June 20, 2001

In addition to the aforementioned indiepopradio, I'm a long-time fan of Underground Radio 3WK and LA's KCRW -- though the latter less so since Tricia Halloran moved over to Axon Radio.
posted by jjg at 11:51 AM on June 20, 2001

Panopticon....

thanks for the WFMU data - we actually came to a similar situation at WTUL New Orleans - the university didn't cough up the cash, so we took it to the peoplez...

great thread everyone. Thanks for the tips. You've greatly improved my workday...
posted by preguicoso at 12:13 PM on June 20, 2001

When I need a virtual trip to the tropics, I listen to Radio Margaritaville. But I also recommend San Francisco's KFOG.
posted by msacheson at 12:25 PM on June 20, 2001

Great thread preguicoso. Here are some I've liked:

factory 188 (drum n bass, abstract)
killradio (FMU-style, leaning toward electronica)
atrecordings.com (not radio per se, but a Belgian music distributor that allows streaming of whole albums at very good quality, and the ability to combine tracks and play your own choices on their "TrackOmatic". Large selection of various electronic, world, hip-hop, jazz, etc.--mostly European)

I've tried Spinner and it's pretty good, though a bit buggy.
posted by aflakete at 1:09 PM on June 20, 2001

I know that self-linking is frowned upon, so can someone mention the music on my site and in particular my streaming station Hospital Radio? Very popular in Belgium.
posted by tobyslater at 1:12 PM on June 20, 2001

Wow--tuned in Radio Paradise because of this thread, really loving it. Thanks!
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:12 PM on June 20, 2001

I've always found that 3Wk can get me through the workday with some nice Indie Jams. If your into that sort of a thing, check them out!
posted by punkrockrat at 2:17 PM on June 20, 2001

I don't "stream" anything.

I mean really, why would I bother?

wirehead@devil:/supastash$ ls -w 1
Alternative/
Classic/
Drum_n_Bass/
Experimental/
Goth/
Grunge/
Hardcore_and_Punklike_things/
Heavy_Unclassified/
Industrial/
Jazz/
Metal_death_speed_etc/
Pop-Regular/
Pop_alterna-pop/
Rock/
Ska/
SoundTracks/
Techno-Acid/
Techno-Ambient/
Techno-Big_Beat/
Techno-Old_school/
Techno-Trance_and_GOA/
Techno_Unclassified/
Trip_Hop/
Unsorted/
muffy/
wirehead@devil:/supastash$ du -s
23618060 .
wirehead@devil:/supastash$

Yes, that's 23 gigs. Yeah, bought them all.

{jaded}
posted by jaded at 2:22 PM on June 20, 2001

echo is not bad if you want to spend a bit of time customizing your own "station." It has a rating system similar to launchcast, and a system that lets you invite others to listen and have input as to what gets played. The stream can be flawless at times, spotty at others.
posted by gimli at 2:48 PM on June 20, 2001

I was really addicted to Sputnik7's streaming stations for a while, but they seem to have gone belly up, too. Bummer.
posted by fraying at 3:15 PM on June 20, 2001

scattered reviews:

flairsound: deep beats (or something like that) groovey, upbeat, a bit too happy for my day today. Bookmarked.

PeopleTalkTooMuch: Uses Live365 which doesn't agree with Opera, maybe I'll come back later with another browser (maybe not). (Later) Made it work but couldn't get a decent quality stream.

KEXP: Not bad, didn't stay on it long but bookmarked it.

Sonicnet's Giant Step Radio seemed like a great place to start but they're having problrms or don't seem to like Opera either. Cmon, how hard is it to give me a link or playlist that works with Winamp?

Brainwashed: looks interesting but uses live365 (see above)

MusicForHackers: Hey, its a live365 thing that worked! I'm gonna have to go back and try harder and take back some of the bad things I said... Wish they had something better than a 56kbps stream though.

BetaLounge: I was about ready to give up when they played "Another One Bites the Dust". Thats the song that says "decide to smoke marajuana" when you played it backwards (if you listed really hard and maybe are on perscription tranqs). That was one of the centerpoints of some Christian tape my buddy had as a kid that 'unmaksed' the backwards messages in music. We thought it was all pretty cool and destroyed needles trying to spin records backwards to hear the messages in our Styx, Pink Floyd, Zepplin records. Anyway, didn't listen too long, RA grates my ears or something.

WFMU: Great stuff, I'd call the stuff playing this afternoon eclectic Jazz although I'd imagine it varies quite a bit, definately a bookmarked one to check out again.

Hmm, I better listen to the rest of these at home...

drgonzo, you post is above this text entry box as I type, my favorites from monkey radio are DJ Krush - stuff like Chie No Wa (intense rap in Japanese I think) and the stuff with Estero or Roni Size just blows my mind. Dr Olive - anything off First DJ on the Moon is good. Kruder Dorfmeister - Bug Powder Dust and a few others, QBurns Abrtract Message and of course the stuff you listed too.
posted by mutagen at 3:26 PM on June 20, 2001

I listen to sleepbot's Environmental Broadcast or cryosleep from BlueMars.org for a deep ambient fix.
posted by mb01 at 4:31 PM on June 20, 2001

Good D&B at www.neurofunk.com
posted by futureproof at 4:49 PM on June 20, 2001

I am still mourning the loss of GoGaGa Radio.

Come back, Tabitha Angst!
posted by turaho at 5:01 PM on June 20, 2001

I've asked this several times before, but, what the hell, maybe someone will know this time. What happened at GoGaGa?
posted by rodii at 5:33 PM on June 20, 2001

Good suggestions, everyone. I've got some bookmarking to do.

No one has mentioned Fat Free Radio, so I guess I will. This works for me at the office as a nice afternoon pick-me-up.
posted by Dirjy at 5:39 PM on June 20, 2001

The Massinova Project is a good place for trance and electronica. And if you have Mac OS X, get their dockling that allows you to interface with the stream directly from your dock. Very very cool.
posted by toddshot at 5:55 PM on June 20, 2001

too much good music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not enough time =(
posted by physics at 7:51 PM on June 20, 2001

for more indie pop, try out spacelab. unfortunately, my other favorite, poprocks, has been out of commission for a while.

my college radio station, kzsu, and more college radio stations.

here's an old mefi thread on customizable personal streaming stations.
posted by kathryn at 12:28 AM on June 21, 2001

Santa Monica-based KCRW is a somewhat more accessible attempt at college radio, but they're no replacement for KALX.
posted by waxpancake at 6:51 AM on June 21, 2001

I second the mention of Factory 188. Local college stations by me include WNUR, which seems to have several streams going besides the live broadcast, and my favorite, WLUW.
posted by jason at 1:11 PM on June 21, 2001

I don't stream music in... the network gods at work (he works in the next cube) frowns on us visiting anything he doesn't have cached in BorderManager.

One group that I -highly reccomend- (even if you don't like techno) is Delerium... they're kind of like the softer side of Moby, but in an amazingly beautiful, ethereal way.
posted by SpecialK at 7:55 PM on June 23, 2001

i used to love the green witch...

they had this "russia online" commercial that was hilarious.
you are having mail... heheh..

if anyone has a copy of this commercial could they please post an url? please?
posted by the_ill_gino at 8:26 AM on June 25, 2001

I like listening to Jpopstop at work..
posted by valerie at 6:47 PM on June 26, 2001

For jazz, there's nothing like New Orleans' own WWOZ. God I love OZ.
posted by muckster at 8:37 AM on July 4, 2001

Heavy.com is really interesting. And a good mix of stuff, to boot.
posted by rev- at 12:15 PM on July 5, 2001

http://www.staticbeats.com
posted by pinto at 9:16 PM on July 9, 2001

don't forget WPRB in Princeton! (I DJ there) -- a great station with streaming in realaudio.
posted by josh at 11:54 PM on July 14, 2001

KUOM, 770 Radio K. The best college station on the air. Period.
posted by mrbula at 9:26 PM on August 4, 2001

5000 HOURS of music archived at Basic.ch : possibly one of the (music) web's best kept secrets...
posted by blunt at 7:18 PM on August 21, 2001

listen to old Chaunce Hayden e-Yada shows
posted by Modem Ovary at 1:17 PM on March 21, 2002