I’m a big fan of indie music. And since I don’t have a CD player in my car, I listen to the radio. I guess I prefer the radio because I’m always being introduced to new artists and sounds, but really, I don’t many CDs to choose from so it’s a moot point.

For the past few months I’ve been tuned in to WXRV, Boston’s big independent station. And for the most part it’s been good, especially their after-hours programming, but they’ve also begun to play a lot of mainstream songs. As in, songs-that-are-on-popular-radio-stations-at-least-once-every-hour. And while it’s true that the artists are technically independent (as in, they’re not connected to a major label), I guess I’m just too much of a purist. It’s been bugging me for awhile, but yesterday was the final straw: a certain Green Day song was playing on both pop stations, and the alternative station, and the indie station – and so I decided to look elsewhere.

Enter: the local college station. No, not my college. My college radio station is mostly commentary, and when they broadcast from the same city as the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, they should know better than to try competing in the realm of talk radio. It’s not like it’s interesting programming either – just talk. The University of New Hampshire’s radio station is the complete opposite. With the exception of sporting events, it’s music (and underground music, at that). It’s a beautiful, wonderful thing. 

Shows like “Red Eye R&B”, “Soto/Uchi!”, and (a personal favorite) “Oscillating Discontinuity”. Sunday afternoons on the way home from church, tune in to Ceili, a Celtic music program that highlights bands like the aforementioned Halili (they’re good – seriously, you should check them out). This morning, as I drove into work, I heard (in a row, mind you): a Dolly Parton cover of a Joni Mitchell song, the “Lucy and Linus” theme from Peanuts, and a really good tune that I didn’t catch the name of, though I think I’ll check the archives later to find out just what it was…

I don’t think this entry had any real point, just to say that college radio is cool, and indie stations should try to be a little more, I don’t know…independent.