New Wave Outpost Forum

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 indie/alternative/modern rock music that's coming down the pike today, and it doesn't forget the classics (because about a third of the time, it plays them.) It represents sort of an alternate timeline where grunge and emo never really happened.

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

Cool Sean ... I'll personally check it out this afternoon!

Yeah, sounds good Sean! I look forward to checking it out!

Sean,
Did you know Chopper? He was the first guy to train me on the air at the old WVRM-FM 89.3 in Hazlet, NJ.

106.3 used to be an awesome station, and when I visited in July, I tuned in and was disappointed. But I was thrilled at what they did at Brookdale College with their station. I listened to it most of the time I was there (90.5 in Lincroft, NJ for those unfamiliar with the Jersey Shore radio scene). Strongly recommend that you check it out online!

[:D]

[quote][i]Originally posted by medication881[/i]
<br>Sean,
Did you know Chopper? He was the first guy to train me on the air at the old WVRM-FM 89.3 in Hazlet, NJ.

106.3 used to be an awesome station, and when I visited in July, I tuned in and was disappointed. But I was thrilled at what they did at Brookdale College with their station. I listened to it most of the time I was there (90.5 in Lincroft, NJ for those unfamiliar with the Jersey Shore radio scene). Strongly recommend that you check it out online!
[/quote]

Yep, knew Chopper; he was my music director from 1988-1991, and he got me started spinning nights at Close Encounters in Sayreville. I have to ask erstwhile 106.3 PD Rich about him. (Rich is now PD at 90.5...explains a lot, dunnit?)

And as for checking out 90.5, please do - especially Friday nights at 10 ET, 'cause that's when Altrok Radio's on it! ;o)

-Sean Carolan
<a href="http://www.altrok.com/">Altrok Radio</a>