So I've Made A Next-Wave Web Station

[hubcity]

Folks,

I hate spamming, but if I don't say anything about what I'm doing, nobody will ever know about it...so here goes.

I spent the 80's and early 90's as a DJ at one of the better alternative stations in the country: WHTG-FM 106.3 in central New Jersey. Our signal juuuuust grazed the southern reaches of New York City, and we'd often get requests from as far as Far Rockaway.

It was in 2000, when the old station got sold to new owners whose idea of "alternative" was Dido, that I started getting nostalgic. It was an odd nostalgia, though, because it wasn't specifically for the music itself; I thought that the music could stand on its own, even today, without much of a boost necessary from the hazy lens of nostalgia.

Turns out that I was actually nostalgic for the philosophy behind picking the music that the old station played. It was music that rocked without complying with a formula (or even with a standard band setup) and it wasn't afraid to let you dance to it. It was smart, it was sharp, and it knew it.

I thought to myself, "somebody's gotta be making that kind of music today." And then I started looking.

And it wasn't hard, because nowadays every band with a garage and a dream has a web page. So I got to work, and came up with Altrok Radio.

Which you might like. It plays the indie/alternative/modern rock music that's hitting today, and it doesn't forget the classics (because about a third of the time, it plays them.)

For instance, it just played Maximo Park, David Sylvian, Gorillaz, Ultra Vivid Scene, The Legends and Midnight Oil; coming up, there's The Rakes, Gang Of Four, Blondie, Kaiser Chiefs, XTC, Death Cab For Cutie and U2.

(And I couldn't help liking that Loretta Lynn/Jack White record, so that's there, too. And so's new Nine Inch Nails.)

It updates with a new 8-hour playlist every day, and there's news headlines in the mornings.

Sure, you can put this stuff on your iPod, but making your own playlists is like tickling yourself...it's way more fun if you're not in control. (Ahem.)

Here's the URL:

http://www.altrokradio.com

And if you're on MySpace, there's a profile for you to be friendly with:

http://www.myspace.com/altrokradio

Plus, irony of ironies, Altrok Radio has wound up back on the radio, at 90.5 The Night...whose signal juuuuust grazes the southern reaches of New York City, a little bit better than the old station's did. It's on for two hours, Fridays at 10PM Eastern. They stream live here:

http://www.90.5thenight.org

Hope I haven't been too spammy, and I look forward to hearing that you've been hearing me...

-Sean Carolan
Altrok.com

[gwai]

it sounds good, but I quite don't like the live365 system, you have to pay to have a good quality sound

[Frau_Blucher]

I'll be checking it out. Thanks!

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by gwai[/i]
<br>it sounds good, but I quite don't like the live365 system, you have to pay to have a good quality sound
[/quote]

I think they do themselves a disservice by perpetuating this misconception. Fact is, they can't afford to engineer a different quality stream for paying customers, so they create the impression that CD quality only comes with their player, and only if you pay.

Indeed, their player does drop the Pro enhancement if you're logged in without a VIP account...but as it turns out, if I upload it in MP3Pro (and I do), that's what you get no matter what; it's up to your player to do something with it. So if you grab the free MP3Pro plugin for WinAmp, or the free Jet Audio player (which does MP3Pro natively) you get it.

Basically, if you have a player that does MP3Pro, you get the high quality, as long as you tell Live365 to use your MP3 player (rather than their player, Real Player or Windows Media) to play the stream. You can set that up under "Listen Settings" on the My Live365 page.

And once you've got your player playing the stream, any web windows that cause you problems can be closed. Much better experience, IMO.

-Sean
Altrok Radio at <a href="http://www.altrokradio.com">http://www.altrokradio.com</a>
Playing When Posted: The Rakes, "Animals"

[gwai]

ok thanks for the info, I have the mp3pro plugin so I will try that

[gwai]

ok it's great with winamp !

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by gwai[/i]
<br>ok it's great with winamp !
[/quote]

Well, now that we've got the quality thing worked out...hope you like the music that's being played!

-Sean
Altrok Radio
Streaming on your computer anytime, at <a href="">http://www.altrokradio.com</a>
Fridays at 10PM on your FM radio, at <a href="http://90.5thenight.org">90.5 The Night</a>

[gwai]

so I've listened to it almost all day long, great tunes !

http://www.scheol.com : french instrumental electro-rock

[hubcity]

[quote][i]Originally posted by gwai[/i]
<br>so I've listened to it almost all day long, great tunes !

http://www.scheol.com : french instrumental electro-rock
[/quote]

Wow - die-hard listeners are *always* welcome!


-Sean
Altrok Radio
Streaming on your computer anytime, at <a href="">http://www.altrokradio.com</a>
Fridays at 10PM on your FM radio, at <a href="http://90.5thenight.org">90.5 The Night</a>