For the past two days I’ve been listening to the internet feed for BBC Radio One. I was first exposed to BBC radio broadcasting this summer when I was vacationing in Scotland. During the second week of the trip we rented a car so we could easily go on day trips from the cottage we rented. Many of these day trips took us 1 to 2 hours away from the cottage so we had time to do some BBC listening.
I love BBC radio. Now don’t get me wrong. Radio One, like many other radio stations, plays a lot of crap. At least they play a lot of stuff that you wouldn’t hear on the radio in North America. It’s also not unusual for them to mix up the genres. I remember when we were driving back to Edinburgh at the end of our second week in Scotland I heard a set which included Pink, the Dead Kennedys, Coldplay and 50-Cent. I also remember the witty, inane DJ banter. There were several times where I ended up laughing out loud at something silly the DJs had said.
So if you want some crazy assed eclectic radio listening you should check out some of the BBC radio internet feeds. If new music isn’t your cup of tea there are at least 5 other music stations to choose from. Best of all: There are no commercials. Good stuff.
4 Comments
I personally like listening to the comedy at 6:30pm UK time on Radio 4. The shows from each week are usually archived too, so you can listen to them at your leisure. You can listen to our university radio station at http://www.ramairfm.co.uk/ although it tends to be on auto-pilot most of the day and only gets interesting between 6pm-10pm weeknights. I occasionally do a show on Thursdays, 6pm to 8pm.
Now I’m feeling motivated to actually get my good computer up and running. This machine that I have online now is from about 1996, and I think the hamsters running the wheel connected to the CPU fan are about to die. I can hear them wheezing every once in a while, so I know it’s only a matter of time anyway…
BBC sounds pretty cool. I’ll have to check it out once I can hear things from the internet again.
-H
John Peel is consistently ahead of the pack, and has been for 40 years or so. He does a few shows a week on Radio 1. Highly recommended.
We saw The Fall in NYC a couple of weekends ago, and I was reminded of him.. they’re one of his favourites.
So.. will I see you at work on Monday?
Neil: I might have to check out your campus radio station. Our campus station has song great shows as well. My friend smelder (see the comment above) had a show for a couple of years. Always good times.
Hed: You’d enjoy the BBC. Music from all genres and all over the place. Great stuff. Plus weird English sayings.
Smelder: I’ve been meaning to listen to the John Peel stuff they have archived. I think the only John Peel sessions I have on CD is of Autechre. As for seeing me on Monday. You won’t see me there until the 3rd of May. Though I’ll probably be out in the field and not in the office so much.